Gems and Poison
by Cassandrala
Summary: Fili's romance with the Princess Nur of the Iron Hills and their adventures in helping Thorin plan to reclaim the mountain
1. Chapter 1

_Listen to "A Snowflake" by Peter Broderick (type in and then__watch?v=lfn1E2aEY9g__)_

**Chapter 1**

It was spring no more, but the birds still made play in the trees they occupied. A pink sky bloomed above the rising sun of early morning and light crept over the grey mountain and yellowing grass. Squirrels danced around the trunks of trees and wolves fetched easy prey to the young in their dens. It was as beautiful a morning as a departure could ask for and the dwarves rose early, eager to meet the road. Though not a great number of them were gathered, nor did they pack heavily, each required a pony and one would drive a cart with excess provisions.

They were still within the gates of the opening chambers, though they could see the light of day peering in through the massive door. Fili was apprehensive of what these next weeks would bring and he was lost in thought when a strong hand grabbed the back of his mantle and hoisted him into what might have been a storage room. He bumped against the shelves of it as the door closed behind—it was only big enough to accommodate the standing room of two dwarves: himself and the face he suddenly recognized as Nur. His surprise at being thrown back into the room and his surprise in seeing her do it left him speechless, and she laughed at the startled, but happy expression on his face.

"I do not mean to let last night be our final rendezvous before this trip is over." She whispered in his ear. "We'll be stepping into peril, but I do not mean to let _Gren_ scare me."

"Nor I." He pulled her back to face her and revealed a determined expression. "But I have petitioned the king to keep you here."

Nur was indignant. "And what did he say?"

"He said that he feared no harm of you while Gren was close at hand." He sighed in frustration.

"Are you really so shocked?" Nur traced the lines on his neck with her fingers. His heart rammed against his ribcage and she spoke on, "Gren has done a hard day's work in gaining confidence with my father. And he begins to make the king believe even against my own words. Gren would have him believe I am madly infatuated and will agree to his proposal of marriage- while only _playing_ at disinterest to fend off the court's whisperings and rumors that we are inappropriate behind closed doors." She rolled her eyes.

Fili's temper rose and his fists clenched. "He sickens me with his lies."

"I have not the time to muddle the affairs of my father and your uncle as we leave within the hour, but I am determined that on our return my father should hear my thoughts from my own mouth in rejecting Gren's pledge."

"While you make your resolution, please hear my own." Fili peered into her face with his hands under her jawline. "A strong woman and warrior are you and you do not need my sword to be safe, but I give it all the same in the hope that my service can protect you should the need arise." He squeezed her hand and held it to his chest. "And if Gren so much as vexes you, I am sure I cannot hold my temper at bay and will make myself known to him and the company."

"Oh, will you, now?" Nur taunted.

Fili softened to a half smile. "Yes. And it may cause more trouble than we realize."

Standing on the tip of her toes, she reached her face to his and planted a delicate kiss on his bottom lip, while brushing away his mustache. "Then we'll deal with that as it comes."

When Fili felt a hand on his shoulder, he wheeled around and faced the owner.

Kili's eyebrows shot up and he pulled both of his hands back to him. "Jumpy? Were you anticipating Morgoth? Methinks you cannot face danger if you're prone to fright!"

Fili blushed and apologized with a murmur. "I've had some frights this morning, truth be told."

Kili leaned forward, squinting his eyes, and looking at something on Fili's face. Fili frowned, as he had no idea what Kili was looking at. Kili reached out with a pointed finger and wiped it against Fili's bottom lip. When he pulled it back, there was a dot of blood on it. Kili eyed it with a wrinkled brow, trying to determine what it was.

"Is this blood, brother?" Kili said without looking up. "Have you been in a fight?"

"No." Fili's eyes rolled. "She might look gentle and sweet, but the woman still has teeth."

"She?" Kili blasted out in laughter. "And fingers, too—one of your mustache braids has come undone."

"Oh, Nur…" Fili sighed. "I'm a mess to be sure—"

"Ahem." They both turned to see the meek face of an embarrassed lady dwarf. She said nothing at first, only offered something small in her hand. Both of their faces leaned in to see what it was she was holding. She rolled her eyes and said, "I, em… found this on my cuff."

Fili took hold of it and on closer inspection realized it was the clasp to one of his braid strands. Nur bit her lip, trying to fight a smile, but it grew into a wide grin and she winked before she passed them by.

Kili grabbed the clasp from Fili and began to rebraid the mustache, clenching it at the end with the clasp and bobbing his head with the success. "Do you think I'll regret my insistence on coming with you? We leave in moments and already we travel in danger." Fili was amused to think his brother was referring to Nur, but then realized Kili eyed Gren in the distance when he said "danger" and could not help but himself steal a glance in that direction.

"You have knives hidden in your teeth," Kili remarked. "But that dwarf's weapons make me wary."

"In that, you're not mistaken." Fili grumbled, returning his glance to adjusting his bracers. "Those are blades of the enemy—torture tools. They are not sturdy enough for open combat, but perhaps something more sinister." Kili continued his gaze on the cruelly curved knives which Gren was slipping into sheathes, while Fili averted his and said, "What's more, he would be foolish to show those to us unless it were for a purpose."

As if to confirm Fili's assertion, Gren's head was lowered in reaching for his boot, but he targeted his eyes at Kili and Fili, a wicked grin passing over his lips and then gone just as quickly.

"I do not know what game he means to play," the elder brother growled. "but while we are on scout a clever man would take advantage of his chance to perform some ill-will while we are few and not under the supervision of the Iron Hills' king."

Kili eyed Fili seriously, brows drawn together. "There are number enough among us to stay his hand should he decide to move it."

Fili was appreciative of his brother's defense and his chest swelled at the response. He clapped a hand on Kili's shoulder, which Kili returned, and they walked to the group of dwarves who mounted their ponies. They did not know what to expect on their venture to map the wilderness, but that seemed small when danger was riding alongside them on a pony.

_**If you are reading this for the first time, please disregard the following note: If you are a return reader, I hope you'll forgive any confusion—I had written raw drafts of the story and loaded it to fanfiction before really going through it and realized that there were unforgiveable errors, so I scrapped the first few chapters. The story is still the same, only the superfluous beginning has been removed… **_


	2. Chapter 2

_Listen while you read: Peter Broderick "Something has changed". __Type in youtube and then /__watch?v=050RwuzelRk_

**Chapter 2**

_Through Kili's eyes_

I was grateful not to see boulders anymore and our horses padded through the soft dirt of a forest, which was thick with trees and had very little space to pass through, though it mattered little as we were lining the narrow dirt road.

The sun still shown through the trees overhead, but we were uncomfortable- the passage hadn't been much used and was hemmed in by greenery trying to overtake it, the tendrils of ferns creeping along its edges.

There was, of course, a main road leading out of the Iron Hills which was used more heavily, but this one was pointed in a direction which not many wanted to go. The footmarks of my people had stamped a path through this wilderness when the dragon took our homeland. I deceived myself into thinking I still saw their footprints embedded in the dirt below me and suddenly felt afraid of the forest.

A hanging twig roused me from my thoughts and struck me in the face. My hand touched the scratch and it slightly amused me to find the smallest dab of blood on my fingertips. It amused someone else even more, though. Gren, an arms-length away, let out a snort of a laugh, his body bobbing with the movement of his steed, which crept cautiously around tangles of shrubbery. I do not mind someone laughing at my expense, but this man had already made himself a victim of my resentment.

Gren was an older dwarf with silver and grey hairs swept into a single braid, which rested on his shoulder. His long beard was braided in a similar fashion and his grizzly eyebrows were long enough that they might have been easily braided as well if someone had the time and inclination to do it. Obviously no one did. I'd always thought him to be a bit scrawny and of a weaker build, but his non-threatening visage did nothing to persuade me he wasn't dangerous— I had known the dwarf to have a silver tongue and I was very convinced that he'd used it to position himself as partially betrothed to my friend, Nur.

Part of my aggravation with Gren rose from his idea that he could badger her father into accepting a marriage proposal with the King's daughter, but I reminded myself that each of the dwarven kingdoms had their own unique custom and acceptance from the lady's hand was not always necessary for the Iron Hills folk. At least her father was giving her time to think about it. My lifelong friend, the princess, however had her eye on my brother and that suited me fine. I couldn't help but think of her in a sisterly way, so it made sense that the only acceptable companion for her was Fili.

The forest was not very expansive, though it was thick.  
Our trek down the scraggly rocks had taken most of the day and a purple hue fell over us as the sun fell asleep and the moon woke for his watch. We had almost come to the edge of the forest and had discovered an abandoned and broken house. Maybe at one point the forest hadn't been occupied with rumors and danger, but that day had obviously passed. And as marked evidence of my thoughts, there hung on a tree beside the large house a spider's web large enough to wrap myself in.

"Fili, Kili, search the house." Thorin spoke as he eyed the area.

I dismounted quickly, snapping twigs beneath my feet, and yanked at the tip of my bow. It was already strung and I brushed my fingers over the feather of an arrow, sliding the shaft against the arch and pulling the notch into place. I almost could have thanked Thorin; the feel of the bow in my hands made me feel calm.

Fili unsheathed his sword and drew close to the warped doorway, the rotted wood of the porch creaking and whining under his weight. I stood at a distance, watching the upper windows of the second level and the area outside. Fili walked into the house warily, dust falling from where his hair had brushed the scratchy doorframe and I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at his disappearance.

Warmth returned to my blood when he came out safely and announced that it was empty. I couldn't help but remember my mother's reactions to my own disappearances and if I could have apologized to her in that moment, I would have.

Thorin turned to Varak, our consular. "We'll stop here for the night."

Varak looked around, disgusted by the webs, but nodded. I wondered at what the ambassador dwarf was used to—probably cush lodgings and full meals, judging by the way his belt struggled to support his massive belly.

There was a clearing in front of the house, though it was nestled into large maples as though it was fearful and was guarding its back. What looked to be an old fire pit sat in the middle of the open circle before the porch, surrounded by logs which had served as seating. I was grateful not to have been loaded with the cookware as Gulm, our doctor, retrieved a massive pan which had been tied to his back and set up to make a meal.

"Varak, Karta, and princess Nur will quarter in the house for tonight. Gren, Gulm, Fili, Kili, and myself will share watches." Thorin directed, scratching the nose of his pony and unloading her saddle and burdens pack by pack.

Fili and I were in good enough spirits to take all the shifts, but Thorin insisted on breaking it into as many as he could to give everyone a chance at sleep.

I saw Karta, the map maker, enter the house cautiously and stifled a laugh when he tripped over what looked like a dead mouse.

Gulm made a fire and cooked some sort of pig, but we all realized a few bites into it that someone else would be volunteering to make meals for the rest of our expedition.

After arranging our mats around the fire, everyone had succumbed to sleep except Thorin and myself, as he took the first watch. The black of the forest would have overtaken us had it not been for that small blaze which illuminated our faces in orange. I noted the soft and warm lighting of a candle through the window of the house, but it was quickly snuffed.

"Your shift is next." Thorin commented, lost in thought. He sat on a log in front of the fire with his elbows resting on his knees and stared at the fire while poking it with a log, as though if he prodded it enough, it would yield its secrets to him.

"I won't sleep tonight when excitement is high." I mused, sitting across from him on the other side of the fire-pit with my arms around my knees. Fili slept next to me, softly snoring on his side, his blonde waves splayed behind him like a fire of its own.

Thorin snorted. "High, is it?" He went on thinking, went on poking the fire, and my curiosity got the better of me.

"Uncle…" There were certain rules to obey in his presence because he was a King and I must respect his authority, but he was also my father. Not truly my father, but he took that burden on all the same. I questioned him with my eyes, hoping my expression was enough to prompt him to speak his mind. It was an invasive desire of mine, but he had never scolded me for being so personal.

"I think on Erebor tonight." He spoke in a low tone. His poking of the fire had become boring, and now he clasped his hands together and looked at me. It was not often that he smiled, but he would beam whenever it regarded the halls of his mountain home and I was not opposed to hearing of it.

He stooped down from his seat and sat on the ground against the log, mimicking my position. My Uncle and King, Thorin Oakenshield, laid before me a weaving of images that were part poetry and part memory, intertwining it with the history established within the halls as well as its adornment.

I had heard some of this before, but never in such beauty had he spoken thus. So detailed was his recounting that a surge of longing ran through me.

Our expedition now served to draw us that much closer to going back (our map maker would be charting our eventual coarse toward the mountain, as well as investigate the rumors of an opening in the mountain unknown to Smaug) but it was not enough—I wanted to walk the stone floors and peer above me at the carved ceilings immediately, such a desire overtook me with the words that flowed from Thorin Oakenshield.

Fili stirred beside me, rubbing sleep from his eyes and propping himself on his elbows. I was grateful that he was slow to wake, it gave me time to wipe away a tear that collected in the corner of my eye, so moved was I at my uncle's thoughts.

Thorin nodded at me and seemed to eye me gratefully for my reverence, as though he felt confident I now understood the importance of our mission, both now and on that day when we would step onto the road to overtake the dragon and bring our people back.

I felt sure now that I could sleep, comprehending my need to be ready for the next day, while Thorin or Fili talked more and I might have heard Nur's name mentioned. Either that or my mind was observing the day's events while my eyes rested.

Whatever they had talked about, their whisperings died down with the fire's embers while the night shifted around us. All was peace.

Flames began to lick up from the fire, which had been fed by someone on the night shift.

Or so I thought. T

he smell of thick smoke and a scream roused me from sleep in an instant. Thorin jerked awake, as well, rising to his feet and groping for his weapon.

Before us was a house that had gone up in flames.

_**Thank you for your patience while I get these out, I promise there won't be such a long pause in between chapters again. My plan is to get out a new chapter every Friday, so keep your eyes peeled for the next one this Friday! Love you! -Cassandrala**_


	3. Chapter 3

_Listen while you read: Peter Broderick "A Glacier"or type youtube and add /watch?v=UGPLyxBOo9A_

**Chapter 3**

_Through Fili's eyes_

One moment was filled with darkness and in the next, the dry and rotted wood of the house was blazing. The tongues of it reached even to the second level and I saw only Karta run out the door. He threw himself in a huff on the ground beside us, his clothes blackened by smoke.

My uncle and Kili held me back from the fire, but I was drunk with adrenaline and pulled out of their grip in a moment. That exertion had worked to my advantage because it sent me flying through the front door.

Dry heat like an oven smacked against my face and I peered into the rooms which were consumed by the bright light—having gone from the darkness and sleep and being suddenly thrust into the heart of the fire, not giving my eyes time to focus.

"Nur!" I shouted above the windy thunder of the flames. "Varak! Nur!" I lifted up my hands to shield my face from the heat as my vision cleared.

I stood in the entryway, the stairs were to my left—a hallway before me and another room to my right. The end of the hall was completely consumed by orange fire and little flames danced up the stairwell, while the room on my right had sustained little damage yet, but was slowly being overtaken.

In a panic, I turned my head from side to side, calling out louder in what sounded like a scream!

"Help!" A voice called out to me, and it came from up the stairs.

Dashing to the first steps, the old planks gave way and I fell onto my back in a heap of smashed wood. I cursed the integrity of the broken house and bounded up the remaining stairs, coming to only two rooms.

The flames were less prominent here, but there was a blinding and choking smoke. I entered the doorway of one of the rooms and found Varak, who had taken shelter behind some sort of tub—and rightly so, for the fire had eaten away at the floor boards to reveal a gaping hole.

"You'll have to jump!" I shouted through cupped hands and held my arms out to reinforce my idea. A desperate shriek left his lips as the tub toppled and fell through the weakened boards and he leapt at the last moment, catching my hand and dangling below me.

He must have been heavy, but I didn't notice, not when my determination was stronger than my body. He flew past me as I yanked his arm to the sturdy level beside me.

I turned to find Kili behind me, checking the other room and coming back to help Varak.

"Where is Nur?" I demanded, halfway shouting at the house.

I couldn't hear what Kili shouted back, but I saw him shake his head and Varak passed both of us by, rolling down the stairs and anxious to be out of the burning building.

I ran to the next room, unsure of what I would find, and unprepared to see what I saw next.

There was no Nur, but my eyes widened and my heart sped up—if such a thing were possible when it already beat so quickly—when I took in the image of burnt hair on the ground. The flames were nibbling at it hungrily and it began to disappear altogether.

"Nur!" Her name ripped itself from my body like an angry monster, and when Kili tried to pull me back, I pushed at him, nearly knocking him over. But he succeeded in his attempts to subdue me and pull me right along with him down the stairs.

We skidded to the bottom and our heads must have knocked together because he was rubbing his before I stood to haul him out of there. If I couldn't save Nur, I would most certainly save Kili!

The flames tried to catch us on our way out, and we might have walked directly through fire, but I wasn't aware of it as my nerves were a heap of energy and there was no telling what kind of injuries I had sustained. The cool air welcomed us back and the group rushed at us to receive us and pull us away from the bonfire behind us.

I was breathing heavily and my mind was blank as I stood there—someone was talking to me, but I couldn't hear anything. The roar of the fire had occupied my ears for so long that now they were numb. I couldn't hear, but I could see, and I realized I was looking at Gren and Nur standing a little ways off, his hands hitting at the back of her head.

Later on, I would learn that he was clapping the flames out, but with the raw energy that flowed through me and the superhuman determination to keep her safe I had convinced myself that he was beating her.

I stomped in their direction and walloped him with as strong a blow as I could muster; my fist jarring into his jaw which made a sound like a click. With an upturned chin and eyes rolling into his head, Gren crumpled to the ground.

Nur's surprise was a gaping mouth and wide eyes. But I didn't take her expression into account, I only lunged to hold her and make sure she was not a ghost.

I wrapped my arms around her small shoulders and threw my head into her neck, squeezing her with as much might as wouldn't break her and letting it settle in my mind that she was real, that she was safe. She was paralyzed at first, but then her hands reached under my arms and pulled at me, her breaths soft and whispering.

"I couldn't find you." My voice trembled and my face wouldn't leave her neck. I found it strange that my chin should be on the skin of her neck…

"I'm fine." She whispered, eyes still wide.

I pulled back from her, hands on her shoulders, and looked into her face. "Are you hurt?"

"Not as much as Gren." She breathed and looked at the pile of his body beside us.

And that's when I noticed it—her hair had been almost completely singed off except for a few inches that reached to her ear-line. That long, luscious, waving hair which I had seen on the floor was no longer piled around her face.

I couldn't help but touch a few strands of it and she pulled away from me in embarrassment, weeping and hiding her face in her hands.

Again I pulled her to me and embraced her to protect her against the fire, against the night, and against anything that might try to take her from me. In that moment, she was mine. Her tear-streaked face sank to my chest and I rested my cheek on her head.

I'd been completely distracted from all else, but my gaze turned to the house behind me as Varak and Gulm shouldered the unconscious form of Gren. The group had already saddled the horses as the blaze became hotter and we all realized at the same moment that speed was needed as the trees surrounding the house had caught as well. We were going to be in the middle of a forest fire if we didn't retreat soon enough.

"We have to go." My smoke-burned voice crackled through. I hurried her to her pony and hoisted her up into the saddle, handing her the reins. The others had already done the same while we had been standing there, flipping the slightly conscious Gren over the seat of his steed, and Kili pulled my horse along—having equipped my pony and Nur's—while he rode over to us.

"Ride!" I told her. "I'm just behind you."

She looked at me pleadingly, as though there was something else I could do. If there was, I would have done it, but I slipped my foot into the stirrup and swung my leg over the saddle. Gripping the reigns, I squeezed them and watched her pony disappear ahead of me.

Following was not hard as the first light of day was creeping over the mountains and a light blue haze fell over everything. We suffered the darkness now more and I was comforted by the distance between us and the fire. My steed led me past the few brushes of trees and into an open field.

The land before us was grassy, but had begun to yellow with the heat of summer and the wind passed through the blades with a whistle. There were two mountain ranges, one to the left and one to the right, and we would be passing between them to reach yet another mountain. The yellow of the grass, the sickly blue of an overcast sky, and the coloring of the mountains would have been a pleasant view for anyone to see, except me.

I was thinking of how this quest had turned into a nightmare and wondering how we could possibly continue.

Thorin's outlook was not so bleak, but I never expected it to be. He would press on no matter how hard the toil and this was proven with his command to circle our ponies and check our inventories to see if they had been damaged.

We skirted the treeline of the forest, no fear of the fire as far out as we'd come, and Gren was beginning to stir on his pony after struggling to maintain his mounting. No one had been watching him and he sunk to the ground with a clumsy dismount and a loud outburst that sounded like some sort of profanity, but was difficult to make out.

Our medic had been looking over each dwarf and was now assessing Nur, so I stepped closer to put a hand on her shoulder and listen to anything he'd said.

She was unhurt, but her hair had been burned off. I already knew as much and he hadn't pointed out anything new. I was unashamed to let out a sigh of relief. There were other things I had to feel shame for, though.

"What in the name of the ancient Kings happened?" Gren's voice wretched. He glared at me and held his jaw, clicking it from side to side. He sounded like he wanted to say something else, but all fell silent over the company of dwarves who stood round us, wondering the exact same question.

"Gren," I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. "I give you my deepest apologies, but I thought you were hurting the princess."

Nur's face lit up, understanding what had brought on so confusing an incident. The wind picked up the short hairs around her cheek and blew them into her face. She was beaming at me so much that her face could have been a lantern.

Gren was not so pleased. "Why-?" He moved himself over to her to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Why would I strike my beloved after I saved her from the embers of that house?"

"Beloved my foot." She stomped, pushing his arm away with a shake of her shoulders and stepping back. "You saved no one—I came out of my own accord through a window and fell on top of you."

He placed a hand over his heart and mustered a wounded look, which would have been believable if I had not known him so well.

"I was trying to catch you."

"You could never have known I was even above you!" She growled in disbelief.

Nur took in the surprised looks she was being given and turned once again to Gren, saying in a softer voice. "I have no tolerance for liars, but especially so when the lies involve me."

Gren showed no display of anger, but kept up the mask or remorse. "My love, you've had an awful fright and hardly any sleep." Once again he tried to wrap an arm around her shoulder and I felt my muscles tense up every time he came nearer to her.

I was getting closer and closer to striking him again.

She pushed his hand away and growled, "I am not your love."

"Of all the gold in the veins of the earth, your stolen kisses speak against—"

Nur struck out and slapped Gren's face. I couldn't smile, but I definitely felt a sting of satisfaction.

"To think I have not rejected you before this!" She spat in his direction. I had never seen her so worked up before and it felt wrong to see it, like this part of her should not have been provoked.

She turned to face the rest of us and spoke on, "I will no longer be the victim of this dwarf's hearsay. You have been deceived into believing his accounts without _my_ confirmation of their truth, but no more."

She then drew closer to Thorin and begged, "Hear me with perfect clarity, I am not Gren's lover and I have never been alone with the scoundrel—though he has tempted you to believe otherwise. I will uphold my honor where he has declined it and ask you to disregard his words concerning me."

Thorin's face did not change from the stern expression he usually wore while he thought on what was to be done. "Do you also ask me to return us to the Iron Hills?"

The princess shook her head. "I know why we are here, and I could not prove my respect of your wishes while undermining them." She knelt before Thorin with her head hung low. "I am at the mercy of the King of Erebor. Command me to stay or leave, if that is what you wish."

My fists tightened at the mention of her leaving by herself and I prepared to voice my determination to accompany her. Thorin must have noticed because he shook his head at me.

"Princess Nur, if you understand the importance of our expedition then you understand that I cannot spare those who have come. The absence of any of these would cripple our goal."

"I can leave by myself—"

"That will not do for a lady to endure travel without an escort." Thorin boomed in a voice which she did not feel the need to argue with. "My cartographer is needed to map, my consular would not leave if I asked him to—" Thorin peeked at Varak who had begun to defend his stance with some message of urgency, but Thorin spoke on. "—and my medic has duties to the rest of us while we face danger."

I crossed my arms while I waited for him to give his determination. All of this was true, and though he had not mentioned me or my brother, I knew that we could not leave for a myriad of reasons.

"Gren, however…" Thorin mused.

Unconsciously, the lot of us turned to Gren, who had been listening with furrowed brow and still played at shocked with the assertions.

While there was little to be known of Gren, we all knew better the reputation of Nur—and her servitude to even the lowliest of her people though she was of royal descent commanded the highest respect. Her earlier outbursts had only proven that Gren was a liar and nothing more dangerous, but I knew in my heart that he would have some part to play yet in convincing us he was not a villain.

And perhaps villain was a strong word, but my heart was involved in the matter.

"If you prove yourself to be a follower of commands, sir," Thorin outstretched his hand to Gren. "Then you may accompany us further and avoid being asked to leave."

Gren walked forward slowly and took Thorin's hand gingerly. They shook hands, when suddenly Thorin pulled him closer and in a hushed voice which we were still able to hear, said, "But I will not suffer you to speak to lady Nur for any reason. I have no qualms in sending a lone dwarven _lad_ back."

Gren nodded despairingly and lowered his eyes to the ground.

"On your horses, all of you." Thorin shook his hands at them and mounted his pony.

The rest of them dispersed and mounted, but Gren stood a second more. Just long enough to cock his head at me and send me a look of disgust. Though I had nothing to go by, it wouldn't have surprised me if the fire in the forest had been of his design.

**Next chapter comes out the following Friday- by the way, I'm looking for beta readers! If you think you're interested, please PM me! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

_Listen while you read: "Skinny Love" by Birdy or type in and add /watch?v=eZ-cpCwYY-4_

**Chapter 4**

_Nur's perspective_

I looked at the grassy ground that stretched on forever over the head of my pony, bobbing up and down with her trot. We had been riding since the morning after the fire and were now reaching the end of another day, the sun setting low before us and blanching a peach sky with the moon already visible. We had ridden on the plains for a whole day, so expansive was it that we had not yet reached the other forest yet. With no other choice but to stop for the night out on the open prairie, we stopped our train, exhausted from last night's events.

Everyone halted and dismounted, preparing for food and preparing for sleep. Kili drove a peg into the ground and bound his pony's lead to it, humming softly while he did and sweeping aside the dark brown hair that fell into his face. His skin was a pale color and I observed my friend with concern.

I crossed the small distance and put a hand on his forehead. "You look a bit sick." I mentioned.

He patted my shoulder and smiled reassuringly. "Food and rest will revive me."

I remembered Gulm's hog from the night before and rolled my eyes. "I think it's my turn to cook." He smirked and joined Fili in unloading firewood logs from Fili's saddle packs.

I set to work in coercing a feast from our supplies—it was the least I could do with all the trouble I had caused.

I couldn't fathom how I was going to continue on this expedition, what with Gren's maddening infatuation with keeping me as his betrothed, my inexperience with travel, and Fili's growing affection.

Well, the last of those wasn't so heavy on my mind as all the rest, but I saw myself as something to be taken care of on a mission such as this, rather than conducting the care of others, and that was a new perspective for me. I did not want anyone to fuss over me, but I was clearly out of my element and unsure how to adapt.

I collected all the bowls and handed each to a dwarf. Gren was silent, but nodded his head as I handed him the meat. He'd held up no more pretenses, and for that I was appreciative, but barely ate. I couldn't stomach much food myself when there was so much going on.

After retrieving empty bowls and packing them away, I sat cross legged on my sleeping mat, which was seated beside the small cart belonging to our Ambassador, Varak.

I looked up at the stars above us. Despite the clouds earlier that morning, the night was surprisingly clear, and the stars hung like jewels overhead.

Fili made no effort to be anything but obvious when he sat next to me, almost as though letting the others know that what they assumed about us was true.

"Hello." I said, smiling at him. I could hardly think of anything else to say and my heart was fluttering as he lay on his back, resting on his elbows and looking up at the stars with me.

He took my closest hand in his and squeezed it, unspeaking. Oh, how my heart warmed in sitting there beside him. The moon was our companion and dashed white light on his shoulders and hair. Suddenly, the stars were not so interesting and I found myself staring at him instead.

He was content to prop himself there, holding my hand, not a word in his mouth and I began to feel as though I may be strong enough to finish this journey yet. If he was there, I could manage. I was not weak, but I certainly wasn't as sturdy as the rest of them—my work was with caring for people, not for combat, though I could hold my ground if it was necessary. I was soft, but that was not a bad thing when my service to others required it.

My mother, with her dying words, had told me play upon what strengths I had been given and to ignore my father's will to mold me into what he wanted: a warrior princess. Thus I had done, but this adventure made me wish I was made of stouter things to be less of a nuisance to Fili and the others. I sighed unhappily at the notion that I was a burden and Fili must have thought that sigh was meant for him.

He cocked his head to look at me and gave me a sympathetic look. "I am no poet."

My eyebrows shot up and I laughed. "When have I _ever_ asked you for poetry?"

He shook his head. "I guess you never have."

"If I had wanted poetry, I would have stayed with other suitors." I eyed a sleeping Gren, who had moved his cot as far away from us as possible.

"Then it is fortunate for me that I am such a feast for the eyes." He overplayed a wide smile for me.

I rolled my eyes… even though it was true.

Tugging at the burnt edges of my hair, I bit my lip. It wouldn't bother me so much to be inflicted with shorter hair if I was not trying to impress someone. I ran my fingers like a comb through the upper strands at the top of my head, assessing just where the damage had been done—it was no different a result than if someone had taken a pair of shears to cut the length to the level of my jawline.

At this, Fili raised himself to sit cross legged in front of me so that our knees were touching, and he reached out a hand at the side of my head, brushing through the crisp strands which were discolored at the bottom with char. His eyebrows furrowed while he brushed it slowly with his fingers, taking in my discontent.

"Lovely Nur." He cooed. "Your beauty is not confined to this, but will always include your kindness, which surpasses the praise of your renowned face." Now his fingers brushed my neck, and my heart reacted to the touch with warmth and fullness.

The skin on my cheeks tingled and he looked at me intently, blue eyes washing over my face and I was suddenly struck by how much I loved him.

"How dishonest of you." My voice came out as a trembled whisper. He frowned at me and then I added, "You said you weren't a poet."

He smoothed both of his hands over my cheeks and around my ears, pulling me softly to his face and kissing me gently. He kissed the corner of my mouth, my cheek, and then my jaw.

I was lost in sensations and barely heard him when he whispered in my ear, "The only thing exceeding your kindness is my love for you."

My hands shook, my heart ached, my body trembled—all of which would have alarmed me into thinking I had become sick if it had not been for the dwarf before me.

Forgetting all other ambitions and ignoring all my fears and woes, my future was now hopelessly entangled with Fili. I was about to tell him this when a shadow cast over us and the clearing of a deep throat made us turn to face a standing Thorin.

Fili's hand stayed on my neck and I couldn't read his expression, but it looked to me like something between an apology and looking upset that we had been interrupted.

Thorin's face was lit up with moonlight and his arms were crossed over his blue helm. "I need to speak with Lady Nur."

I knelt on one knee and rose upward, fingers brushing Fili's hand as I passed by. I knew his eyes were following me while I walked behind Thorin and once we were removed some ways from our campfire, Thorin and I stood facing each other on the yellowing grass of the plane under bright moonlight.

I had always had a high respect for Thorin due to the circumstances of his leadership, but also I respected his demeanor. He was born to be a leader of a great people and it was no lie that I held him in higher esteem than even my own father at times, though I knew it could never rival his bond with his nephews.

"Nur, I have known you since you were a babe and I have never known you to be deceitful, so I hope you will speak plainly with me as to why you are here."

I was startled at how blunt the statement was, but I knew these words would have come eventually. I was still indecisive as to how I would ever answer them. "My father commanded me."

Thorin looked at me sympathetically. "I know your father expects a great deal from you, to rise to his vision of an unerring commander."

"I submit to my King's decisions readily—"

Thorin stepped forward. "I say he is a fool for not seeing that you will not command with an iron fist. There are swords to protect your kingdom, but you yourself do not need to wield one."

Never before had anyone spoken to me a mirror of my thoughts; my surprise left me speechless.

His gruff voice went on, "Though he means to throw you to the fire to forge you into something stronger, he must see the error in commanding you to court peril with us. Why is Varak not enough to spy on me? Must he also send his daughter through danger to have an account of his allies?"

I shook my head. "We are not spies..."

I heard the squeak of leather as he gripped his bracer.

I held my hands out peacefully. "You have acknowledged that King Dain seeks to harden me and make me a commander in his armies. I have resisted him this far, but he takes your expedition as an opportunity to 'forge' me, as you have said. Is that not reason enough?"

His silence and the crossing of his arms told me 'no'.

My brow furrowed. "Have you yet questioned why he is so intent on having his own children in such positions?"

Thorin must have sensed that I was leading him down a further trail of thought, and I continued. "Perhaps he thinks that the only trustworthy commanders of his forces would be his kin… perhaps he has begun to think such because his allies have proven themselves to be full of secrets…"

He nodded at me. "You bring me a message of caution. I have long planned in quiet and have not taken account of the friends willing to help me."

My shoulders loosened with relief and my mind was a little lighter when he didn't respond in anger—he could have, but a small part of me chided myself for expecting it.

He stepped closer to me, his stern face radiating thought. "You have not come to give an account of me to your father, but to implore me to respect my allegiances before they are injured beyond repair. Were I to take back the kingdom today, I would have rewarded you with jewels for your selflessness, but you are a princess and have no lack of such trinkets."

I bit my lip and eyed a blonde dwarf in the distance. "I have no need of those, but there are other favors I might soon request."

Thorin peered behind him to see what I was looking at, took in Fili, and then turned back to me with a half-smile. "In time…" he nodded. "I would be a fool not to anticipate the unity of two great kingdoms."

Uncrossing his arms, he offered me one to follow him back and I slipped my hand over the great padded forearm.

"…Though there are some among us who might not agree as quickly." He lowered his voice.

He pointed with his forehead at Gren. My mood darkened and I admitted, "I do not know what to do about him."

Thorin patted my hand before releasing it. "I cannot advise you on that, save to say he will not be permitted to speak to you unless you wish it."

The King then retired and I was left to my thoughts. My small feet padded slowly through the maze of sleeping bodies until I found my own mat.

Fili had returned to Kili's side, for which I was grateful—his brother needed him more than I did.

* * *

**Hello, all! I've made the decision to post more than one chapter a week (as this is a revision and doesn't need too much time :P) **

**I've also started looking for a beta reader, so if you think you're interested, please PM me!**


	5. Chapter 5

_Listen while you read: "You're the one that I want" Angus and Julia stone or type in and add /watch?v=kVxpk8xMN2k_

**Chapter 5**

Nur woke with a start as a tickle ran over her hand. Her head rested in the crook of her elbow with her legs bent under a thick covering. The wind had blown blades of grass against her fingers, but she noted that the rest of her body was comfortably warm under the layers which covered her.

The sun was beginning to illuminate the plain on which they were settled. There was movement in the camp and Nur was distressed to see that all of them had already risen and were preparing to eat—she did not like to oversleep, especially when there were others to be considerate of.

Sitting up and pulling the blanket down to her knees, she looked quizzically at the covering. This fur hide did not belong to her, where had it come from? Not knowing what possessed her to do it, she held it up to her face in both hands and inhaled the scent of it. It smelled like—

"Good morning." Fili had appeared out of nowhere, offering her a slice of bread. She eyed his face, then the blanket, and reached out to accept the bread. With a half-smile, she nibbled a small bite and offered a polite, "Thank you," then held up the corner of the fur covering, "Is this yours?"

He winked at her in reply, causing her to blush, and hastened back to Kili. His brother was rolling up his sleeping mat with difficulty.

Fili stood over him for a moment, a small frown on his face, watching his brother struggle with a strap. "Is something the matter?"

Kili rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's nothing, just a little indigestion."

Fili nodded and squatted down, pushing Kili over with a hand and strapping the mat with its buckle. Kili grunted as he fell backwards onto an elbow and muttered, "What was that for?"

Fili's eyes glinted, "You would have refused my help if I offered."

"And so you force it on me? That's not your way of thinking, that's mine." Kili smirked. He jumped back to his feet and brushed his hands together, letting out a small hiccup and holding his stomach.

Fili eyed him warily, but Kili just shook his head and said, "Leave it be, I'm fine."

The company departed after the small meal. Thorin and Gulm, the doctor, were conversing on their ponies, taking the lead of their train, and Varak, the ambassador, was perched on his small pony-led cart just behind them.

Gren looked surprisingly content as he had his own conversation with Karta, the mapmaker, and Kili, while Fili brought up the rear with Nur.

They never went out of their way to be together, but were pleasantly surprised at the moments they were given. Fili especially moderated his time with her as he knew their expedition was about to require a great deal of focus, and this is what he and Nur discussed.

"The front gates were never your Uncle's intention, then?" She asked as her hips swayed with the movement of her steed.

"He tried with an army and still could not possess it." Fili sighed. "Rather, this attempt will be from the rear of the mountain for any passageways left from when the hall was first built."

Nur's eyebrows shot up. The dwarves of the Iron Hills understood most of those passages to be possessed by goblins. "But do we know for sure where this entry might be?"

Fili shook his head. "If it does exist, a small band of scouts is the only plan we can safely perform—too many bodies might make the beast curious enough to see what we are doing, and the terrain is such that we could not easily flee. We would be exposed to his wrath of fire with no way to escape and make him all the stronger as a meal."

Nur looked away from him doubtfully.

Fili turned to look at her, wondering what her thoughts were. "Are you fearful?"

Nur did not answer at first, but seemed to be considering her words carefully. As he waited silently for her answer, he noticed Kili slowing ahead of them and waiting for them to come forward.

"I do not fear for myself, if that is what you mean." She finally said. "My heart is troubled for Thorin and his ambitions; I want them to succeed—but have you noticed that luck has not been on our side?"

Fili eyed her quizzically.

Nur bit her lip and then remarked, "There are some who might profit from our company's failure."

Fili did not know how to answer this and had no time to dwell on it as Kili began to ride alongside them. He looked frustrated and grumbled under his breath.

"What are you muttering about?" Nur leaned over the neck of her horse to see him.

Kili swept his head to the side to give her an angry look. "Your intended makes me nervous."

"What? Gren?" Nur scoffed with a little huff. "Don't let that one be a trouble to your mind."

But Fili could not as easily have let Kili's comment go. He understood his brother best and he was painfully aware that something about him was off. He did not even have to question Kili before the younger dwarf explained himself.

"He was wooing us with beautiful words on his hopes of Thorin's mission being successful. Though I know little of him, he seems to speak in the same way of our quest as he speaks of Nur's love for him."

Ambassador Varak chirped at the group to halt and had them dismount and surround the cart which he now stood on to address them. He began to explain that due to the map-maker's reckoning, they would be very close to their next stopping point—a trading outpost.

He recounted that it had once been a flourishing at the "back door" of the mountain, behind Erebor, but in the way of a road that had once been a highway. It was now nothing more than a forgotten path, and Dain had offered assistance should they require it. They had heard nothing from the dwarf traders in years and had only once sent an emissary to them, though the fellow had not returned to give a report.

"Though we have not much to go by," The ambassador's face was grim, "there wa an increase in wilderness deaths surrounding the outpost before we lost contact entirely."

"Animal attacks?" The physician Gulm offered as he stood with his arms crossed.

Varak bent his elbows and shrugged. "No one knows for certain. Thorin's cause called for able-bodied men who could defend and aid; our cause calls for the same." He peered with a small frown at Nur with the words "able-bodied men" but she was hardly offended.

Even she acknowledged that the word "defend" did not directly apply to her, but that "aid" was something she could offer in abundance. Though none spoke aloud concerning it, the group had one mind: her presence was not unwelcome, but Nur's purpose was not combative.

"It is more important to note, however," Varak cleared his throat, "that I am here on behalf of the King and have been appointed to speak to any remaining traders."

All except Karta, the map-maker, rolled their eyes or frowned at this, for his meaning was clearly that he did not want them to interfere with his speech-making when they reached the outpost.

They moved their ponies back to the path and once again formed a line on the barely visible road, a few riding two by two in conversation.

Kili and Fili rode in the rear again, Fili noticing that Kili's brow was not the only one that sheened with sweat. Gulm's pallor had taken on an eerie color and he grumbled about an outbreak of the flu escorting them from the Iron Hills while Karta, the map-maker, had suddenly become very pale. What bothered Fili most was the way Kili rode bent over on his pony.

Fili knew that if he said anything to him about it, it would only bring on a chorus of "I'm fine", "stop worrying", and the like, but he reached out to clap his hand on the ailing dwarf's back. The movement was meant to be reassuring, but it jarred Kili as though startling him out of sleep.

"Stop pretending to be mum." Kili grumbled, and he leaned over the neck of his horse wearily.

Fili's eyes did not stray from Kili's bent form often as they rode in a straight line.

From Kili's birth they had not wandered far or long from each other and that bond had not lessened as they grew into their own. Often they would think the same thing so that even unspeaking they could act in sync with each other—it disturbed Fili that something was wrong, but he was upset deep into his soul, as though his subconscious knew the source of it and his waking mind could not comprehend it.

Kili added further to that upset with a series of groans and spitting, as though his mouth had become unpleasantly soured and could get no relief from an awful taste. In the course of those next few hours, Karta had managed to vomit at the side of the road continually so that the men were becoming accustomed to riding past him, knowing his pony would sprint to catch up.

Finally, they caught sight of their object: the walls of the fortified outpost. It hugged the base of a great mountain, trees on either side of its walls, and there was a large with two doors. The walls were roughly hewn logs, splintery and sharp, looking scratched up either by weather or something else.

The traveling dwarves were atop a hill in a little gathering of trees, descending to the valley of bald land which sat in front of the gates—the road went north and south to the left and right, passing in front of the gate and Thorin's company approached it from the west.

Her first glimpse of it sent a chill through Nur and she urged her pony on, following after Thorin at the lead. Though she did not know what to expect, the fort looked ghostly and caused a pit in her stomach.

Closer and closer they rode and no less did she feel this sensation as the details came into view.

Thorin called for the dwarves to dismount not twenty feet from the massive doors, which should have been open, and each step he took toward it seemed full of great weight.

Only a dwarf would consider approaching such doors to pound on in announcing his arrival, for the thickness of their bodies made them seem as though hewn from stone. The doors were hardly hollow, but a rumble emanated from them all the same.

They stood in silence for minutes, confused and anxious.

Fili was conflicted, hoping that they find something and then fearing what they would.

Kili would have felt similar, but he was clutching his side and waiting for his body to submit to his will instead of quivering with sickness.

Thorin became tired of waiting and bellowed, "Hello there! We have come to speak to the master of trade!"

Moments more did they wait until finally the creak of movement from the large doors answered their hails.

The noise brought on by the exertion of the doors was a sickening creak, and everyone resisted the urge to clap their hands over their ears while they waited through the slow movement.

Thorin gripped one of the doors and helped it to pull it open, while Gulm aided the other, his hands shaking from the energy it took to do so. It was hard to overlook the gleam of sweat on his bald head—the hulking physician had hardly any hair, not even a beard, except a thick mustache.

They heard the footfalls of someone running away from the doors, though they saw no one, scanning the area and noting the smaller buildings which formed a perfect square with the gates the dwarves entered through. At the back of the square was a large, two-storied inn. The walls surrounding these buildings were high, much higher than the roofs of the shops or even the top of the second level of the inn, and they were filed to a point, convincing Thorin that the outpost had required—or still did—defense against some terrible force.

"Orcs?" Gulm whispered to Thorin, but he shook his greying head and looked around them at the pointed log walls, signaling with his hand that the others should remain silent.

They waited in stillness, nerves on edge, until they caught sight of movement from the doorway of the inn. The plated roof hung over the porch of the lodge, making it difficult to see the figure who stepped out, and he hesitated on the step while he eyed them.

"Are you friend or foe of Dain?" Thorin called in a low voice.

The shadowed head rose a little as though surprised he was being addressed. "Need we be either?" And stepping out into the sunlight, a spark of recognition passed over Gulm's face.

"Dul?" He said tentatively and stepped forward. The shadowed figure revealed them to be the same height and build, and with tears and a broken will did he throw himself into the outstretched arms of an overjoyed Gulm.

More bodies appeared from doorways. Thorin and his troop were slowly surrounded by thirty curious sets of eyes. Dul pulled away from the arms of Gulm and addressed Thorin, "I am Dul, son of Olm." And he further revealed himself to be Gulm's brother, as well as the emissary sent out two years earlier.

He ushered them into the lodge, the other traders following cautiously behind them but refusing to walk past the porch of the inn.

Nur's heart hurt with compassion for them, taking in their fearful glances. She sat herself at a broken table next to Fili and Kili, putting a hand on the shoulder of Kili when she saw the burden of sickness on him. She rubbed her hand in a circle on his back. Kili patted her hand over his shoulder and rested his head on the table top, brushing her arm away and muttering something about catching his breath.

"We have no small amount of questions for you." Thorin eyed Dul with a little suspicion as the dwarf stood before their seated company. "But perhaps we should start with why you never returned to the Iron Hills."

Dul crossed his arms. "I did not bring a report King Dain because I cannot leave."

Gulm coughed a little and asked why.

"Because no one leaves this place unless they are dead." Dul growled. "Not even you."

* * *

**Hello, my dears :) The chapters will be coming much quicker now (I'd like to say one a day, but I think we all know what happens when we make ambitious promises) I guess we'll have to wait and see! Please leave feedback, even if you hated it- tell me if it sounds stuffy or melodramatic, just tell me something. I love to hear from you!**


	6. Chapter 6

_Listen while you read: Norah Jones – Chasing Pirates (Santigold & Snotty Remix) or type in youtube and then add /watch?v=SVHl1O4CeIk&list=PLB0D827925814C3B6&index=2_

**Chapter 6**

Fili watched Gulm rolled his eyes. "You'll have to forgive my brother. He's always had a twisted sense of humor," Gulm narrowed his gaze at Dul with a condescending look, "which others have always had a difficult time interpreting. Have a care, Dul, we are all weary with travel."

Dul's eyes glistened on his sad face and Fili thought the dwarf might at any moment resort to tears. It was an odd expression to see on such a dwarf—he mimicked his younger brother's appearance of muscle rolling over muscle, amplified by the brown linen shirt with cut off sleeves, and hardly a hair to speak of except a thick mustache. "I wish I could be careless enough to make such a jest."

Thorin's companions shifted uncomfortably, eyeing each other, but saying nothing.

"Then I hope you'll enlighten us." Thorin said protectively, fearing their host meant harm to them.

"None are able to leave because we are under siege." The weight of his voice and the way he crossed his arms reassured them that there was no mistake this assessment, though they had seen nothing to indicate a blockade.

"By whom?"

"We don't know."

Thorin rolled his eyes. "Then for what purpose? This post is a small village, what could anyone value from it?"

"Information." Dul lowered his eyes. He was not as forthcoming as Thorin would have liked, but he had cause to be suspicious of the travelers.

The Ambassador, Varak, stepped forward, sending Thorin a resentful look. "This is hardly an interrogation." Standing before Dul, he bowed low and held a warm smile. "We are here to offer whatever assistance we can, and to bring word back to King Dain of the Iron Hills of your predicament with reinforcements in tow if that is necessary."

Dul glanced at Varak sternly, halfway caught between sympathy and disgust. "Have you not heard what I said? We are not permitted to leave this fort, let alone send for reinforcements."

"Surely, the offenders would not dare to attack Thorin Oakenshield." Varak said.

Dul turned to face the sitting king, whose arms rested on the table and whose face resounded with thought. "You are Thorin?"

The greying dwarf nodded solemnly and Dul pushed past Varak to sit beside the king. "Then you may be the only one who can put an end to this hellish nightmare!"

Thorin reached out a hand to pat the thick forearm of the distressed Dul. "But you forget that I know next to nothing about your plight."

Dul sat back and pulled his arms to himself, looking exhausted and drawing in a deep breath.

"Almost two years ago, I was sent from the Iron Hills to re-establish contact with this quiet trading post. They had endured here without fear of the dragon who resides in the mountains behind us. Though their commerce was little, they were strong and they were adamant not to leave. Gold and jewels used to flow out of Erebor and down the mountain to this outpost, but by the time I arrived I found them to be selling livestock and furs. They did not know it, but they guarded something more valuable than the wares which they traded."

Fili and the rest weren't aware of it, but most of the listeners were leaning toward Dul.

"There were spies in our midst, dwarves with wicked intentions who sought a way into the mountain. Where the great battles at the front gates had failed, a stealthy few could creep into the halls from behind."

Thorin's heart rushed at these words. "Is there a way?"

Cautious eyes leveled with Thorin. "The builders must always have two ways out of the tunnels they build, and the great caverns of Erebor had more than one."

The blood in his veins burned fast in Fili and he glanced at Kili to see what he made of the news, but Kili was still hunched over the table, his forehead resting on his hand and the other arm thrown carelessly over the back of the chair.

"The passages have all been blocked off save two, and we rest close enough to them." Dul continued morosely, as though his story had burdened him heavily.

The heir of Erebor ran a few fingers over his beard and asked, "What became of the spies?"

Dul's head was ducked, but his eyes met Thorin's. "I unwittingly forced their hand with my arrival."

After a pause, the dismayed fellow continued, "They left the walls, but they did not really leave… we began to note that there were eyes in the forest and that any who travelled far from our gate did not come back. What began as ridiculous rumor became a hard reality when a large number left together and returned with a story that they had been attacked, though the account had hardly left their lips before they were run through with arrows from an unseen foe. Those were the days before the high walls."

Thorin nodded. "I noticed that your fortification is recent."

"Then your eyes may help us in identifying the faceless enemy which oppresses us. We used to be many, many more than what you see here. And now we are…" he grimaced, holding his forehead in his hand and trying to regain his composure. "They think we know the way into the mountain and they desire the secret deeply enough to make sure that none come in and none leave this fortress."

Fili leaned forward. "But do you know the way in?"

Dul shook his head. "Those who knew died and we guard clues to the whereabouts of the tunnel openings."

A heavy sigh left Varak and he ran toward the door. "If you'll excuse me…" and they heard him heaving outside.

Dul raised an eyebrow, but spoke on. "We fortified the trading post and we have tunnels under the wall to hunt and gather for ourselves—and a well inside the walls to draw drink from—but we cannot outlast the enemy who stops our comings and goings."

"Why do they persist in harassing you? Why do they not capture or kill you?" Gulm said shakily. His composure was off and his shoulders trembled though they shined with perspiration. Dul took in the sight of his sickly younger brother and gave him a pensive look before he answered.

"At first they guarded us and searched for it themselves—we know that because we could see movement in the rocks above us and torches by night—but now we know that they have not found it. Once every week for a year now, they call to us from the forest surrounding our walls and tell us they will set us free once we have told them how to enter the mountain."

Thorin's anger had grown all throughout the conversation, but now his nerves were on fire and he wanted to exert some powerful force and break something—though he knew it would give him little relief.

Gulm broke into a series of coughs and Dul looked broken with concern. Something was tugging at his mind, a marker that something terrible was about to happen, but he was so overjoyed to see his kin again that he paid little attention to it.

Dul was startled when Nur appeared at Gulm's side with a small bowl of water and a towel. He had not even seen her disappear into the kitchen to fetch those things, but he did not yet understand her determination to be self-sufficient and work quickly to aid other people.

"You need to sleep." She cooed at Gulm, dabbing the wet towel on his head. "As does Kili and Varak, whom I have not seen return." She glanced at the doorway and saw Gren returning from the porch.

"I went in search of our ambassador and could not find him." Gren said.

Fili frowned. He had not even noticed Gren's departure from the room and scolded himself for being so focused on Dul's account that he had not paid any attention to the other things around him.

He was worried for Kili, he had been listening to Dul, and he had been holding Nur's hand for a time—hoping to soothe some of her distress in hearing the predicament of the forlorn people of the outpost.

Karta mumbled something about bad pig and earned a scowl from Gulm and they all rose to follow their host, who directed them up a set of stairs to the rooms of the inn. They entered a hallway and while Dul opened doors to indicate which rooms they may take, he admonished them, "We leave the gate closed at night and will not open it until morning, even if stragglers are forgetful and have not returned at sundown."

Fili supported Kili's arm over his shoulders and helped him to drag his ill feet down the wooden hallway. He peeked into Gulm's room to see Nur and nodded at her, but she did not notice. She was crushing an herb she'd found in the kitchen with a mortar and pestle.

It made all the sense in the world, thought Fili with irony, that their physician should fall to sickness while the rest of them did.

He continued his hauling of Kili until they reached the room at the end of the hallway. There was a large and soft bed occupying a small space with only a nightstand, a chair, and one small window in the wall, but it was sufficient for their needs. They had shared beds before; indeed it had become difficult to think of a time when they had not shared one.

Kili rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling and smacking his lips together, as though he tasted something foul, while Fili sat in the chair and removed his boots. He was all too happy prepare for sleep as he knew the morning may bring on more horrors than the ones they had witnessed.

"Where's my pipe?" Kili moaned, floundering in an attempt to leave the bed. Fili scooted is chair over to the side of the bed and pushed Kili back down.

"If you think I'm going to let you smoke while you're sick—"

"Oh, mum, you never let me do anything fun."

"I, on the other hand," Fili reached into his jacket and pulled out his own pipe, flipping it out and pressing it to his lips, "am free to do as I please."

He did not light it, but held it in his lips, reveling in the familiar scent of it and the feel of the wood. Fili tipped back in the chair, pushing against the frame of the bed with his feet while he raised and lowered himself like a rocking chair.

"Don't lie, Kili," Fili began in frustration. "How bad off are you?"

Kili blew out a sigh and put a hand on his own forehead. "Terrible."

Fili's concern peaked at this admission. Kili downplayed everything and now he was relenting…?

"It can't be as bad as that time with the arrow."

Kili's brow furrowed, his eyes closed. "What arrow?"

"As if you could forget such a thing. You remember; I shot you."

Kili's grinned weakly as he recalled the reference. "I was trying to show you how easy it was to use a bow." He laughed, but it came out as a series of coughs. "Apparently, not easy enough for you—you nearly killed me. No, this isn't as bad as all that…"

He frowned and met Fili's eyes. He was done admitting his pains and was drifting into blurred vision and exhaustion. "…do you think we really are under siege?"

Fili stopped rocking and settled the chair back into the corner. "You need not concern yourself with that until you are well again."

Striding to the large bed and crawling alongside his brother's feverish body, Fili lay his head down and his eyes bored a hole into the ceiling with his stare. "Thorin will make all well again. He always does."

A low snore was Kili's only response and Fili was content to surrender to the comfort of the bed. His mind was a buzzing of hornets, but the ache that had begun in his body overpowered his questions and concerns.


	7. Chapter 7

_Listen while you read: "Please Be My Strength" by Gungor or type in youtube and add /watch?v=QX0bhq6FM5g_

**Chapter 7**

Kili stirred through the night and at one point moaned that he was ravenous, struggling to lift himself out of the bed, but Fili would not let him leave. He insisted that Kili rest and Fili tiptoed through the hallway past the other rooms and down the stairs to see what he could find.

Fili could see no light outside the window and the room was thick with black, but he remembered seeing it in the daylight and remembered that tables and chairs filled the floor-space. He froze for a moment, wondering how to navigate the lightless place without tripping over the chairs and tables, when a small candle appeared behind him.

To the right of the stairwell was a tavern-style, and behind the counter was an archway into the kitchen. Nur stood in this doorway with the candle which had illuminated Fili at the right moment.

"I thought I heard footfalls." The corner of Nur's mouth turned up into a sideways grin and Fili could see from the skin under her eyes that she had not slept.

"Is it morning yet?" Fili walked toward her, trying to get a peek through the window at the moon's position.

Nur shook her head. "It's not even the second watch."

Fili placed his hands on either of her shoulders and touched his lips softly to her forehead. "Why are you still awake?"

"Probably for the same reason you are." She sighed.

Fili frowned a little and nodded, holding her hand, and ushering her into the kitchen with him.

"How does our physician, Gulm, fare?" The prince asked, glancing around the little kitchen and thinking of what he might bring back to his brother.

"I don't know, Gren offered to watch over him and I couldn't refuse when Karta needed help, too."

An entire wall was covered with cabinets and another wall made way for a large stove. On the stovetop was a crude pot which simmered and began to bubble. There was a thin soup inside of it, obviously of Nur's make, and there was enough for multiple servings, as though she knew there would be more people in need of food at that hour.

Fili's fingers brushed against Nur's shoulder again, smoothing out the wrinkle of a sleeve she had folded up to her elbow. "I wish you hadn't come with us."

Nur glowered at Fili, her mouth moving before her words came.

But Fili went on before she could be affronted for long, "It's bad enough that you're exposed to those who are sick—I fear to watch you fall ill yourself! But then we are in a worse danger than I would have expected—"

He was cut short by her sudden movement to hold him tightly in a small hug with the side of her face pressed against him and her eyes squeezed shut. "I don't know why I convince myself sometimes that you're trying to offend me." She laughed. "I always look back and realize you never mean harm. You should take better care with your words."

He rolled his eyes and patted her back. "Durin's halls, I've already told you I'm no poet." He pulled her away from him and held her hands in his, gripping them to show his seriousness. "I'm going to get you out of here."

She raised an eyebrow. "Who says I want to leave?"

The pot began to boil over and Fili turned quickly to grab a towel and pick up the handle of the pot, removing it from the fire and throwing the towel to a side table.

"I want you to leave." Fili grumbled.

Nur crossed her arms and grinned. "I'm waiting to hear why before I let myself get upset with you again."

"I want you to be safe." He put his weight against a countertop, leaning his back against it and crossing his own arms.

"Why?" she prodded him mischievously, a gleam in her eye. Fili could tell she was playing with him, but then she was concerned she'd taken it too far and displayed sympathy, walking toward him and putting a hand on one of his crossed forearms. "I only want to hear you say it."

"I need you to be safe. I need you to be untouched by evil, something wholesome and pure. I'm surrounded by darkness and I need you to be my hope, my light. It is a selfish thing that I ask of you; but it is because I am so often thrown into hate and fear and woe that I need to feed on your kindness and love to keep afloat in such an unsteady ocean. Forgive me for all the things that I am not and have compassion on me when I am weak-willed, but know this: my weapons protect you from danger, my arms will shield you from cold, and my heart will never fill unless you are near me."

Nur was woozy while the words settled into her head and she steadied herself on his arm, looking into his face like it was far away. She'd been silently asking him to romance her and he'd certainly exceeded her expectations.

"Is someone making stew?" A voice called from the dining hall, interrupting the glaze that had fallen over Fili and Nur's eyes. Nur stepped away, but Fili held her hand and stood away from the countertop, answering, "Yes, if there is someone in need of it."

Dul passed the doorway and into view. He bowed to Nur politely. "I assume that broth is for your sick companions?"

"Yes," Nur said, walking to the stove and spooning portions to different bowls.

"Then I hope you will not object when I ask if you would also give them this." Dul's large arm held out a circular bottle with a blue liquid inside. Nur eyed it tentatively and reached to receive the bottle delicately from Dul's massive hand.

"What is it?" she asked, unable to hide her hesitation.

"It is called vol—it is a flower that buds at the base of the mountain."

"I know of this flower, its oil is for…" Nur's voice trailed off and her forehead wrinkled as she leveled her eyes at Dul.

Fili's confusion was not nullified in that moment, but he saw Dul nod at her as if to answer a question.

Dul clapped a hand on Fili's back and said, "I hope your brother's health returns speedily," before leaving the room.

Fili's suspicious eyes followed Dul through the doorway and he was startled out of his glance by a bowl of soup being pressed into his hands.

He watched Nur add a generous amount of the blue liquid into the soup and stir it in. She would not meet his eyes, but pecked at his cheek with her small lips and whispered, "Please don't fret. Just trust me."

This was all she said before she disappeared from the room herself with two bowls of broth. Fili stood there for a moment, alone, and eyeing the bowl in his hands, wondering what he had missed.

He knew of the name of the flower, but beyond that he did not understand its purpose… And Nur had asked him to trust her, which he would do without question.

Striding up the stairs and returning to his brother's side, he had to wake the poor Kili as he had fallen asleep in waiting.

Kili did not even object to Fili spoon feeding him while he sat, he was so haggard and in poor spirits.

Something was tugging at Fili's mind, as though he had all the facts he needed to piece together a thing that was happening in front of his own eyes, but sleep was also tugging and it numbed him from being able to put that puzzle together.

The morning came too fast for Fili and he groaned at the sudden sunlight which had appeared within minutes of his head resting on the pillow. Or, perhaps, it had felt like minutes when it had really been a few hours. Whatever the amount of time, Fili was hesitant to leave the comfort of the blankets which he had all to himself.

His eyes popped open and his head jerked to the side when he finally understood that he was the only one occupying the bed.

Sitting up quickly, he saw a chipper Kili sliding on his boots and strapping the buckles as though he had never been sick.

"Good morning." Kili smiled at him.

"Good morning?" Fili half asked.

Kili stood up straight. "What's wrong?"

Fili's forehead lined and played with confusion. "Are you well?"

Kili's eyebrows knit together; his expression was mocking. "Is that disappointing to you? I could keel over and die if it would make you feel better."

Fili threw a pillow at him. "It's just so sudden."

"Well, you shouldn't be so surprised after the soup from last night." He threw the pillow back at Fili, who took it in the face before standing himself. "It recovered me like no medicine ever has."

Medicine, Fili's thoughts lingered on the word. "I didn't make it, Nur did."

Kili headed for the door. "If you're nearly ready to face the world, then, I'd like to give her my compliments."

The older dwarf leaned over as he sat on the bed and tugged his footwear into place.

They both no sooner left the room than they were met with the sight of many bodies crowding the hallway.

Nur, Thorin, and Karta stood looking into Gulm's room, and on closer inspection Fili noticed that Dul was inside with a sleeping Gulm. Or, at least, he looked to be sleeping…

"What is this?" Kili asked his uncle.

Thorin's arms were crossed and a terrible expression was on his face, mingled with grief and anger. "Gulm is dead."

Fili stepped closer to the doorway to see that Gulm was, in fact, lying peacefully and that Dul had just passed his hand over his younger brother's eyes. Dul looked as though he had been sobbing, though now he wore the countenance of an angered man bent on action.

Dul stood and joined them in the hall and addressed Thorin with a surprisingly clear and calm voice, "He has been poisoned."

Thorin's face displayed a small amount of shock. "How do you know?"

"This outpost has seen the same kind of death. A number of boils begin under the neck after the victim has been exposed to it for a length of time." He moved swiftly to Karta and shoved the fellow's chin upward, startling the unsuspecting map-maker, and revealing light bumps under his jawline.

Kili brushed his fingers under his own chin and felt evidence of the same. Nur moved to sweep a hand under Fili's chin but came up with nothing. "Why does it affect some and not others?"

Dul shook his head. "We found that some are immune. I was never hurt by it, but my wife…"

"He gave me an antidote." Nur spoke up, facing Thorin and trembling. "I made soup last night and he gave me the oil of vol to put into it. Karta was ailing terribly before I fed him and then this morning he was completely healthy."

"Kili's recovery was the same." Fili eyed Dul with remorse. "Thank you for saving my brother. I offer my condolences for yours."

Dul ground his teeth and stared at the ground. "Was Gulm given any of the oil?"

Nur's eyes opened with fright. "Yes, of course! I knew what it was you had given me when you said its name, but I was afraid to worry everyone for the need of such a medicine until we knew for sure. I gave the soup to Gren to feed your brother while I—"

"Someone _else_ was caring for Gulm?" Dul's head snapped up. "Who?"

"Gren," Nur answered, "But I have not seen him since this morning…"

A weight fell over the air as suspicion not only crept into the minds of each, but also caused their thoughts to settle firmly. Thorin was the first to break the silence. "Where is Varak?"

As though the weight before had not been enough, it deepened when they began to fear why Varak was no longer among them.

"I need air…" Nur stumbled and her hand flew to her forehead. Fili took her by the elbow and led her down the stairs, supporting her and guiding her through the dining hall and to the porch of the inn.

Their eyes adjusted to the daylight and Nur thanked Fili quietly, gripping his arm and breathing to steady her heart.

But when their eyes cleared, they beheld something neither of them expected: The gates were fully open and sitting just outside, lodged in the dirt, was a pike with Varak's head on it.


	8. Chapter 8

_Listen while you read: "Violet Hill (Instrumental)" Coldplay or type in youtube and add: /watch?v=AZwlqjCflMU_

**Chapter 8**

Nur's knees buckled and Fili had enough sense to catch her shoulders before she sunk too low. Her mind was swirling with everything that had happened and she could not take her eyes off of the severed head of Varak, the ambassador, stuck into a pole. The pike wavered a little in the wind, tossing wisps of hair around his decapitated head.

Fili's blood was rushing to his ears and he pulled at Nur to follow him back to the inn. She couldn't get her legs to respond and her head twisted to look behind her at Varak. She gaped at it even from this distance.

Fili stomped up the stairs of the porch, stopping just before the door and eyeing her with concern. Gently but firmly he grasped her chin and turned her head to face him.

"Look at me." He commanded intensely in a whisper. Though her head had moved, her mouth was open and her eyes still tried to look from their corners at the head in the distance. "Nur, look at me."

Her eyes moved slowly and refocused eerily on his face. The slightest whimper left her throat against her will, breaking Fili's heart. His hands remained on her face and he said, "I am not going to let anything happen to you, but I have to find Thorin and tell him what's happened."

She didn't speak, but she nodded.

He picked up her hand and kissed it firmly, gathering strength from the anger that was welling up inside of him.

Fili kept repeating to himself that she shouldn't have come.

Clinging to her hand, he led her back through the dining room and up the stairs, where a guarded Thorin was conversing heatedly with Dul, Kili standing behind him.

"Varak is dead." Fili announced, pressing past them and looking into each room. Nur was in a bit of a daze, but she knew what he was looking for.

"I… I don't have a room, Fili." She mumbled.

"Yes, you do." He countered and patted her hand, pulling her into his room at the end of the hall. "I want you to close the window panels and lock the door. Don't open for anyone you don't know. I have to leave you for a bit, do you understand?"

She sat down on the bed and nodded, eyes unblinking at the floor. "I'm not afraid for myself."

Fili moved to pull the door closed, but hovered for a moment, holding it open a crack.

"I'm afraid of what he will do to you." Nur raised her head to look at him with tears.

Fili ground his teeth. He didn't need her to explain who "he" was, Fili knew that she meant Gren.

"I'll be back." He promised, closing the door and bounding down the hall.

He found it empty and knew that the company had gone out to inspect the evidence of Varak's death.

Fili's heavy boots crunched in the sandy soil of the square and walked a small distance to join the group who was closely analyzing the pike.

Dul moved to hoist it out of the dirt to remove it.

"Do you keep a swordsmith?" Thorin asked in a low voice.

Dul grunted as the pole gave way and was freed from the grip of the ground, "Yes, but we've not many weapons left—"

"Bring the head inside." Thorin instructed, walking away from the gate. "Fetch the smithy."

Karta, Fili, Kili, and Dul watched Thorin return to the lodge in confusion. A small number of bodies began to appear in the square, eyeing them curiously.

"Take this to the inn before anyone sees it." Dul pleaded with Kili, handing him the pike. Kili sneered at the grotesque object he had been handed, but sprinted back to the inn, past the following stares.

Dul strode towards the people that had gathered, motioning for Fili and Karta to follow. About eight were formed in a clump a few feet away and now they closed the distance.

"Our new allies have had two of their company murdered." Dul addressed the small crowd.

The faces did not receive this with surprise, as though murder was a common happenstance which they were accustomed to hearing of.

"This is Fili and Karta, and there are others inside—among them is Thorin Oakenshield."

The name brought whispers to the haggard faces and one of them departed, as though the news was sorrowful and would bring nothing but disaster.

"Smerri," Dul spoke to a short, young dwarf. "I need you to fetch Smiddag right away."

"He's still sleeping." The lad argued, sweeping a braid away from his face.

"Then wake him." Dul boomed. "And bring him to the inn."

Smeri dashed away, disappearing into an empty stable.

"We saw the head. Have they made another demand?" Spoke a voice from the little gathering. The rest of the traders looked at each other in confusion and dismay. Dul stepped forward to place a reassuring hand on the shoulder of a lady dwarf.

"Things are about to change." He promised. "Shut the gate."

Dul treaded past the crowd, Fili and Karta in tow, heading back to the inn when his eye caught movement to the side of them. An older dwarf was stomping toward them; the swordsmith Smiddag, intending to join them at the lodge.

Inside, Thorin had draped one of Karta's map papers over a table and had removed the pole from Varak, placing the ambassador's flesh on the paper and wiping at the skin where it had been severed.

Kili watched with an upturned lip, unsure what his uncle meant to do and unconsciously stepping away while the swordsmith and Dul joined Thorin around the table.

"Do you believe this to be the work of your oppressors?" Thorin asked Dul in a hushed voice.

"Yes," Dul answered with a clenched hand. "Undoubtedly. They send us a warning such as this and make their demands the following night."

"Then I hope we will now learn who your enemy is." Thorin grinned.

Fili and Kili frowned at each other; Kili had moved to his brother's side. They were curious, but held back their questions, knowing Thorin would answer them in time.

Thorin whispered something in the swordsmith's ear, his nose brushing on the crazed white mane that hung around the old man's head.

The dwarf looked like a lion more than a man, his tanned skin an ashy brown and his white hair still keeping traces of the blonde it had been before age claimed it. And his thick forearms made Dul's arms look narrow in comparison. Smiddag's nose was not long, but wide, giving him even more of an animal look, with deep-set, dark eyes to complete it.

"You've done a good job of cleaning up." Smiddag nodded and coughed into his hand, leaning over the head and peering at it. His voice was gritty, stung by years of coal and fire.

"We need to give the sword master some room." Thorin beckoned everyone to move back. He stood against the tavern counter and crossed his arms, patiently watching and looking like a man who was willing to wait ages.

Some of them sat, some of them stood, but all of them were puzzled as to why a sword-maker was inspecting a severed head. All except Thorin, of course, who had now brought out his pipe and was puffing away contentedly.

"I could use a smoke myself." Kili muttered, rising from his place and ascending the stairs.

Fili broke his gaze from the scene and followed Kili up the stairs, grunting in agreement. His boots made a clamoring noise on each step and he padded through the hallway to the last room to see Kili jiggling the handle.

"It's locked." Fili explained. "Tell her it's us."

Kili's eyebrows rose. "So that's where you stowed her."

A scratching noise filled the keyhole and the nob turned from the other side, revealing a tired face and a small smile. "Hello."

She stepped back and held the door open, allowing Fili and Kili to enter.

Kili sat on the bed, his pipe appearing in his hand. Fili sat on the floor beside the bed with his back against the nightstand, a hand reaching to Kili expectantly.

"I don't have it." Kili murmured to Fili, his pipe in his mouth. "It's in your vest."

Fili's brow twisted. "I gave it to you."

Kili rolled his eyes. "And you took it away from me when I was sick."

Kili reached over to Fili's jacket and with a single motion lunged his hand into the pocket of flap and withdrew the small bag of tobacco. "Ha!"

Fili's laugh was weak. "It's hard enough keeping my head straight with the goings-on, you expect me to always know where the backy pouch is?"

Nur smiled, reassured that things had settled a bit if the brothers could be so lively, and lowered herself into the chair in the corner of the room. "And what are the goings-on now?"

Kili was stuffing his pipe and handed the small bag back to his brother. "There is a sword smith downstairs looking at the—"

"—evidence" Fili interjected with a growl, casting a sideway glance at his brother.

Nur felt bile rise in her throat, but she inhaled a deep breath to steady herself. "I'm not made of porcelain, my dear, but last night and this morning have been a little… overwhelming."

Puffs of smoke began to rise from the other corner of the room and Nur sighed, wishing her own pipe was in closer reach. Fili turned his eyes to her, rising to his knees and stretching forward to offer her his pipe.

"Where's your pipe, Lady dwarf?"

Nur grasped Fili's pipe gratefully, as though it were a treasure. "In the kitchen. I forgot it last night."

Fili stood and bent over her, kissing her forehead before turning and leaving the room.

"I'm glad you've overcome the need to use me as your carrier pigeon." Kili gagged, referring to the very bumpy beginning between her and his brother—in which he carried numbers of notes between the two, putting an end to that by tricking the two of them to meet him in the same place and then conveniently leaving them alone—but Nur knew he meant it in humor. She blew a smoke ring and allowed herself a small smile.

"Now we need only find _you_ a suitable companion." She mocked.

Kili grimaced with a grin tugging at his lips. "And where do you propose to find me such a mate? You may as well include the other races of middle-earth, but it does you no good as long as we are stranded here."

He cracked a few knuckles and felt a pang of guilt as soon as the words had left his mouth. "But," he amended quickly, "I have glanced at a few lovely things in these trading post shops."

Nur let out a hearty laugh. "And none of them were dwarf women! You mean to say you ogled some bracers and a new tobacco pouch."

Kili's hands opened to either side and he mimicked feign embarrassment. "The heart wants what the heart wants."

Though their words had been lighthearted, they could not forget the immensity of the events surrounding them and they fell to silence while they smoked.

Kili's thoughts strayed to the moments when his intuition had warned him against Gren, but at the time he had been swayed into thinking that it solely regarded the dwarf's interactions with Nur and Fili.

Things had taken a much different turn when Gulm and Varak had turned up dead.

When Fili had taken Nur out for air, Kili had stayed behind to listen to Thorin question Dul; Their host's conclusion was that Gren had accepted the soup with the antidote for Gulm—but added to it that much more poison. The only deduction made from this was that Gren was in league with the enemies that surrounded the outpost.

Kili's mind was always trying to grasp the end result of every action, thus leading him to act in a way that others called impulsive, but it served his senses best in situations like these. He was trying to anticipate what might be in store for them next when Nur jumped to her feet and began to stride to the door.

"Where are you going?"

She halted before the door. "I can't just sit here. I need something to focus on, something to do."

Kili sighed and blew out a smoke ring, listening to the tap of her footsteps in the hall and exerting himself to stand.

Kili might not be able to anticipate Gren's next action, but at least he could see that Fili and Nur were about to be at odds. He paced the room a little, savoring the scent and feel of the wisps of smoke while he had a moment of peace.

Nur had only just come to the top step of the stairs when Fili began at the bottom of them. They both halted to look at each other, Fili looking surprised at first, but then backing down to make way for her to descend the steps.

She walked slowly, peering around the dining hall and taking in the sight of the swordsmith wearing a large crown of spectacles. He would raise one of the circular glass pieces to sit above his eyebrow while lowering another to sit against the ridge of his nose, inspecting closely the flesh of the ambassador which rested on a crumpled paper.

Nur promised herself she wouldn't betray her disgust and made her face stony, taking Fili's hand when he held it out to her on the last step of the stairs. She also noticed that everyone sat or conversed with each other quietly, waiting.

"What is it we're waiting for?" Nur asked Fili quietly, still glancing at the swordsmith.

The lion's mane of Smiddag rotated to face her. He ducked his head in a small bow and his voice ground out, "We are looking to see what kind of weapon has made this cut."

The puckered lips of Nur displayed her confusion, but Thorin stepped forward to answer her, as well as the rest of the bodies that had waited for a similar answer. "To see whether our foe is dwarf, man, orc, or other." He had wanted to end with "elves", but recalled that not all shared his outlook on the slender, beautiful race. He knew that they were capable of atrocities, though even when motivated by greed they would not stoop to something like this.

"If it were of Men, it would be difficult to determine who; their race has always been desperate enough to put other lives at risk for their own ambitions. Of orc, it would also be difficult. But of Dwarves…" He gripped his pipe a little too tightly, and the leather of his gauntlet squeaked under the pressure. "…we know all too well of the craft of our own weapons."

"You don't mean to say that Dwarves of the Iron hills would do this?" Nur frowned.

"No." Thorin held out a peaceful hand to assuage her. "No, they have been our dearest friend and I will not forget the advice you brought me."

Nur nodded and looked at the floor.

Smiddag requested from Karta a parchment and a coal pen. The large man sat at a table and began to sketch something.

Bodies surrounded the swordsmith's shoulders, but he turned his head ever so slightly to grumble at them and they took a step back.

His hands swooped across the paper chaotically, but somehow weaving together such an accurate drawing of an axe.

"This is your weapon." The swordsmith turned his head slowly to look a Thorin. "And I have an idea of its origin, but it may sound… ridiculous."

Thorin glared at the sketch, something moving in his mind with a flow of hated recognition. "Then say it aloud, Master Smiddag. Perhaps your thoughts echo my own."

"That dwarf's flesh bears the brunt of a heavy blow, with tear and rip that could only be made by an axe in such a shape as I have determined here." He waved a hand at the paper. "It is certainly of dwarf make, but the angle of the blade is not typical—this reminds me of a design made by the petty-dwarves."

"The petty-dwarves?" Karta, the map maker wondered.

"The same who fought alongside Sauron ages ago." Thorin grumbled his answer. "There are fewer now of them left."

"Then this siege is the work of Mim? That sounds like a faery story." Dul was incredulous.

"No." Thorin shook his head, folding the corners of paper around Varak's head and covering it. "He would be ancient now, if he is alive at all… if these assumptions are true, then it would be his descendents—Ibun and Khim."

The names were unfamiliar to most of the dwarves gathered around the table, but none of them could forget tales of the petty-dwarves. Those dwarves were smaller, unfriendly and had, in the beginning of middle-earth, been hunted because the elves thought they were two-legged animals. The elves could not be faulted in their thinking, for the petty-dwarves were such that even the dwarves in the mountains could have mistaken them for this, but the resentment of the elves still hung heavy on the minds of all dwarven-kind.

A horn sounded in the distance and all heads pointed at the door and windows facing outward. They all but scrambled to the door and made their way outward, Fili and Kili following after the rest, and Nur keeping cautiously behind them.

Fili had darted out with all the rest in a rush before he remembered that it was his preference to keep Nur in the confines of the lodge for safety, but he brushed the thought aside when he considered that she would probably refuse him.

All had gathered in the square and stood still in a clump facing the closed gate and whispering in hushed tones. Thorin and his companions joined the assembly and his eyes caught sight of a bird flying over the doors of the gate. Dul held out his forearm as a perch for the bird, and it landed lightly, clinging to his flesh with a strong and sharp grip, but Dul did not look as though it bothered him. Dwarven hide is tough, and his was all the stronger for his bulk.

"This is why they did not know to whom they spoke before." Karta whispered to Kili, eyeing the bird bitterly. It was not a raven—the ravens had served Thorin's grandfather as correspondents when he had ruled the mountain sitting behind them—it was a crow.

On the crow's foot was a piece of hide with coal-scratched letters that bore a small message. Dul removed the message from the crow's foot and the crow hopped onto his shoulder.

"What does it say?" Asked a young voice belonging to the dwarf boy, Smeri, in the middle of the crowd.

Dul sighed heavily. "It says, 'Nightfall. Send Thorin'."


	9. Chapter 9

_Listen while you read: "The Scientist" by Jenny & Tyler or type youtube and add: /watch?v=677D_P3XVzQ_

**Chapter 9**

Thorin's companions pleaded with him not to counsel with the enemy, but Thorin had reasoned with them that they could neither free the traders from the barricade nor escape themselves and he was the only one with the power to make any difference.

He had not suggested fighting their way out as Dul made it very clear numbers had been on their side. He was moved to compassion in seeing that the tradesmen had given up and embraced their seclusion with broken hearts. He had no options left and was glad for a course of action.

Fili was anything but accepting of his uncle's agreement to meet with the enemy and Kili made all efforts to support his brother's argument, but Thorin just shook his head at them, insisting that they could not understand the responsibility he had in protecting this people though they were few. These traders had been in faithful service to his father and grandfather in the flourishing days of old and he would not abandon them now.

While Thorin, Karta and Dul returned to the inn, Fili stomped to the porch of a shop and dropped himself to a bench with his head in his hands. Kili followed slowly and did not join his brother on the bench, but stood with his arms crossed and leaned his weight on a column of the shop porch. They stayed that way in silence, each lost in his own thoughts.

Kili's eyes traveled to Nur, who spoke with both Thorin and Dul in the distance. He could not hear what they were saying as they murmured in hushed tones, but Kili noted that Nur's expression went from shocked to determined over the course of their words.

The three parted and she strode over to the brothers.

"I need to ask you for a favor." She spoke, hoping Fili would raise his gaze to her, but his hands were still holding his face. She stepped forward a little, sitting on the bench and draping an arm over Fili. "I need you to go hunting."

"What?" Fili asked, still not raising his face.

Nur's eyes fixed on Kili, begging him to help her. "Dul says that there is a tunnel leading under the wall and they use it to gather in the woods. He said there is a turkey population they picked off until they brought a few of the small ones to coop at the smithy's." She pointed at the shop a way down from them. "But they've long since run out of the fowl and their hunters are not as skilled as a certain pair of dwarves."

Kili nodded, but Fili snorted a little. Nur stood on her feet in a stomp and pulled his hands away from his face. "You can either give yourself something to do while helping these starving souls or you can sit here and brood!" She turned to walk away, but Fili's hand caught hers in midstride, causing her to look over her shoulder at him.

"I'm sorry." He groaned, rising to his feet. He breathed a little. "Tell us where the tunnel is."

She led them behind the inn to reveal a pit that had been dug large enough to permit a single person to jump down. The bottom went under the wall and opened on the other side.

"Why didn't they try to escape this way?" Kili thought out loud.

"Dul said that a year back they attempted to flee one by one so the enemy wouldn't notice, but he was only sending them one by one to their death." She muttered almost so low that he couldn't hear her. "That's when they realized they were only being permitted to hunt to give them a small amount of hope, but not enough to feel free."

Kili ducked into the pit and examined the opening on the other side tentatively. "Does Thorin know—"

"I asked Dul right in front of him; he made no objections."

"He shouldn't." Fili grumbled, squatting and looking the direction of a vanishing Kili. "He's got his own dangers to think on."

"Stop that." Nur grasped his arm when he stood, looking up at his face and wishing she were taller. "You can't be angry at someone when they decide to do something you don't think is safe. You can't protect everyone."

Fili sighed and brushed a hair away from Nur's face. "Maybe not. But if you make any more dangerous decisions, I'll lock you up in your room."

"You may not approve of everything that I do, but I will do what is necessary."

He could not bear to hear her say that and hoisted her up over his shoulder, the bend of her waist resting by his head, and she protested mightily though she did not have the strength to resist him.

Kili, hearing the scuffle and confused as to why his brother had not joined him, poked his head up from the hole. His eyes widened when he saw them. "What in Durin's name are you doing?"

"I'll be right back." Fili called over his shoulder, catching a knee in his face and small fists to his back. Her blows did not cause him much pain, but he wobbled a little in ascending the porch steps of the inn.

Kili shook his head and leaned against the wall of the pit, tapping his fingers on his elbow and looking up at the sky, hoping it wouldn't rain.

The eyes of those in the lodge followed him, but the dwarves did nothing to stop the Prince who struggled with the kicking burden on his shoulder. He rose another flight of stairs and bounded down the hallway to the room, carefully avoiding hitting Nur's head against the doorpost. With a gentle heave, he let her drop to the bed and she sat indignantly with an angry cry and tears in her eyes.

He lowered his face to hers until their noses almost touched. "I may not lock the door now, but I needed you to know I wasn't bluffing."

Nur's anger ebbed and gave way to embarrassment, hands rising to her face to wipe away the enormous tears that collected on her cheeks. "I never thought you were."

Fili's heart swelled with guilt for causing her to weep and he knelt down, taking her hands in his. "Why do you torture me, then?" He rested his forehead against her knees, helpless against the irritation growing in him for Nur and Thorin.

"I don't know what to do to keep you safe." He moaned. "Don't you understand how precious you are to me and how much it would destroy me if something happened to you?"

The princess's frustration softened and she felt her heart skip in seeing Fili so broken. "Trust me." The words were simple, but he had difficulty in accepting them.

"Trust me, love." She repeated. "And while you're working on the impossible, trust Thorin, too."

An exhale left him; he could not be everywhere at once, he could not control what was happening, and he could not summon powers greater than himself to save all those whom he loved all at once.

"And," she swept a hand over his blonde braids. "Please don't keep your brother waiting."

He kissed her hands before rising and stood, towering above her. The concern hadn't left his face. "I cannot confine you, but will you please be careful while I am gone?"

She nodded and rose herself. "You're not leaving for long, don't worry so."

He walked towards the door and then paused as if remembering something important and stomped back to her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her, closing all space between them.

Only seconds ticked by before he pulled himself away from her, determined that if he should linger any more that he would not be able to leave her at all. She stood silent for a moment, transfixed by the feel of the kiss that faded from her lips.

Kili had almost given up standing in the pit when he saw his brother return, a small amount of anger and fear gone from his face, though he was not entirely recovered. The younger dwarf was about to make a witty remark, but his brother cut him off with a hand and the word, "Don't."

Shrugging, Kili bound back down the hole and climbed the dirt wall of the other side, Fili following just behind.

Kili reached out a hand to help his brother up from the second pit and they surveyed the forest before them.

It was a thick assortment of trunks and branches which was made dark by the brush above them, cutting off sunlight, but allowing them enough to see. They crept quietly through the trees.

"You might have brought something more advantageous for hunting." Kili smirked, gripping his bow with tremendous satisfaction.

"I'm not wholly unprepared." Fili whispered back, eyes still scanning the trees and untucking three throwing knives. They weren't ideal, but Kili was the winning archer, though he'd put an effort into mentoring Fili. The older brother was a nervous archer, especially since one of the lessons had involved an accident resulting in Kili's injury.

Kili rolled his eyes. "You're no better with those than you are with this."

"We'll see when the turkeys appear." Fili whispered and then shushed his younger brother. As if on cue, a pair of turkeys pecked at the ground a good distance from them.

"I'm the left." Fili whispered as he drew his hand back.

"You're always the left, pick another direction." Kili murmured.

Fili turned to face and frown at Kili. "What's the difference?"

"There's no difference, you just like your habits and I like to change things up a little."

"I couldn't hit them from this distance anyway, we need to get closer."

"Whereas I can hit both of them from this distance."

"You and your ruddy bow can go—" But before Fili could finish, Kili had loosed an arrow and struck the neck of one turkey while he pulled out another arrow for the second, who was not fleeing fast enough.

Fili would not be outdone, though, and flung a knife at the bird, missing by about a foot. Disgruntled and seeing that Kili was lining a second arrow, Fli loosed another knife and hit the fleeing turkey in the wing, slowing it down and causing it to stumble. The second arrow flew to its mark and the fowl dropped.

The brothers retrieved the birds, holding them by their feet and flinging them over their shoulders and Kili made a snide comment about Fili liking to carry things over his shoulder.

Fili only shook his head and told Kili he wasn't allowed to join Thorin and Nur in making trouble, but Kili smiled at this.

Kili had the habit of looking ahead and Fili had the habit of caring too much; and where people called Kili reckless, they also called Fili controlling. But what few beside his brother recognized was that Kili only saw that certain things had an inevitable outcome and he preferred to waste no time in getting to it.

Fili had, in the hours they were gone, brought down a boar and Kili had found a number of nests which he stole eggs from. Fili rolled his eyes at the notion that none of the traders had been "as talented hunters" as the brothers. The game in the forest was practically begging to be taken.

It was fortunate for Fili that his brother brought a sack, as the boar was heavy and the birds were, though lightweight, large and cumbersome.

When they came to the pit they had a difficult time managing the dead animals through, but eventually appeared through the other side, the rear of the outpost lodge welcoming them back.

The sky was overcast and clouds were smoothing themselves around the mountain, creating a fog. Fili looked up and took in the view, wishing it were under different circumstances so that he might have appreciated it better.

Kili dropped an egg, which fell cracking to the dirt at their feet and he muttered to himself before shrugging and continued his stroll to the porch of the lodge.

The brothers sat together with their feet dangling from edge of the lodge porch, setting aside the boar and beginning to pluck the feathers of the turkeys.

A pair of boots thudded from the doorway of the inn and Dul sat beside Fili, taking up the plucking of one of the fowl.

Fili felt the eyes of Dul on him and wondered what the fellow was staring at him for. He turned to face him, daring him to speak and break the awkward silence.

"Are you betrothed to Nur?" Dul finally spoke.

"No." Fili shifted uncomfortably. "That is, not yet."

"Yet?"

"She was…" Fili wished more than anything that he could run away rudely and not have this conversation. "…she was intended for Gren when we left."

Dul's eyebrows shot up. "That would have complicated things, wouldn't it? I only ask because if I were you, I would make haste."

Fili's discomfort kept him from seeing what the man was getting at. He turned to glance nervously at his brother, but Kili pressed his lips together and rose, hauling a bald bird into the inn with him.

"I have not made enough haste in my own life." Dul went on, pressing forward despite his own discomfort. "And it has left me with little. No haste in saving my brother. Nor my wife." He rose, the bird finished, and made to leave, but not before whispering, "And there may not be much time left."

Fili shook his head and wondered what on middle-earth had caused such a strange passing between the two, but he did not think on it long before Nur had returned.

She stood at the pathway to the inn, a slightly shocked expression on her face. "You're… back already…"

"Mahal blessed our catch." He grinned, but Nur did not look impressed. She almost looked disappointed.

She shook it off before he could say anything. "Then you'd best help me prepare these beasts for the oven, we've got a lot of hungry mouths."

_Why is everyone acting strangely?_

Fili raised a brow at her, but complied, dragging the boar after him.

It was not too many hours later that the kitchen erupted with good smells, but the sun had begun to set.

"Nur is preparing a feast worthy of Erebor's halls." Thorin said to Fili and Kili. "I would see my nephews sitting at the head of such a table while I prepare to leave."

"Can we persuade you to send someone else?" Fili implored.

Thorin shook his head. "Dul will be my guard, and no worthier a dwarf would do."

This shamed Fili a little. Did Thorin really expect him to sit to a meal while his uncle parlayed with the enemy? Though Fili knew better than to question Thorin, he was beginning to feel a tad suspicious.

Fili sensed that something was not right, as though everyone knew something secret and he did not.

On their entry of the inn, Fili and Kili saw three turkeys set out, as well as a small assortment of fruit and a great deal of bread. There was also a pudding, and from the smell of it, it had been a cake soaked in milk. Their bellies were suddenly grinding at them when the scent of the food saturated their noses. Dwarves trickled in to the lodge slowly at first, but on seeing the savory sight came quickly to chairs.

The nervous tradesmen and dwarf women had turned into living dwarves again, laughing contentedly and eating their fill as they had not in a long time.

Nur appeared and served Fili a cake. "I've got something I need to do, but I'll be right back." She said with a laugh, kissing his forehead and walking away.

But she stopped midstride and returned to Fili, grabbing his face and kissing his lips with such force that he was too shocked to do anything but receive it.

When Nur walked away this time his eyes followed her and she darted for the lodge's door, which showed a dark exterior as the sunlight had receded.

Dul filled the doorway for a moment, locking eyes with Fili and nodding to him in such a way that made Fili forget he was at a feast.

The large, muscled dwarf pulled something out of his shirt and dropped it on the porch floor, stepping entirely out of sight and heading for the square. Fili rose to see what he had missed.

He headed for the door and Kili's hand gripped his elbow. "Where are you going?"

"I need to see something." Fili insisted.

Fili made wide steps to reach the porch and discover what it was that Dul had dropped. It was the hide that the crow had brought, coal letters scratched into words. Only the name didn't say Thorin. The name on the hide was—

"Nur!" Fili screeched, panicking and looking about.

He raced across the sandy square, feet crunching at the sandy soil, and feeling the heat of his blood fill his arms and legs.

The gate was only just closing and between the closing gap of the doors Fili caught sight of Nur and Thorin walking away from it and into the tree-line. It boomed with closure and he lost sight of them completely.

Pounding his fists against the doors and screaming for them to open again, he raged and fought against the wooden logs, heaving his shoulder against them and kicking at them with tremendous blows.

But no matter the heat of his anger and determination, they would only creak under his exertion.

He wheeled around, Dul suddenly standing behind him. "You!"

Dul stood firm with something behind his back, clearly not frightened by Fili's pointed finger.

"You knew about this! Why didn't you tell me?" Dul held a hand out peacefully and looked as if he would speak, but Fili shouted again, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Kili's hands reached out to steady Fili's shoulders, but the dwarf was mad with fury, lashing out and turning again to the gate.

Dul approached the frenzied prince and swung an axe handle at the lad's head.

At first Fili buckled under the blow, but then another followed and he drifted away from the waking world and lay in a heap on the sand.


	10. Chapter 10

_Listen while you read: "My Body is a Cage" by Peter Gabriel or type youtube and add /watch?v=8ve4i4iy-ag_

**Chapter 10**

"—you take care of it?" Fili heard Dul's voice from a short way off.

"I did not have the heart to strike him." Kili defended himself.

A low moan brought both of their eyes to a waking Fili, who lay upon the bed set up for him at the inn. He had a damp cloth across his eyes and a wadded clump of something behind his head.

"At least_ I_ wouldn't have drawn blood." Kili said with disgust.

"Then you would not have succeeded in stopping him." Dul countered with arms crossed, leaning back in the corner chair. "He looked ready to climb those walls with his bare hands."

"Aye." Kili nodded with a small grin, scooting himself to sit closer to Fili on the bed. "That he would have…"

"I wouldn't have made it very far, though." Fili breathed. "You two would have caught me at the ankles and heaved me back."

"You would have been strong enough to pull us up with you if we did." Kili patted his brother's hand.

He struggled to sit up, groaning and clutching at his head. "How long have they been gone?"

"Half an hour." Dul said.

Fili reached behind his head to find that the wadding was a big clump of blood-soaked hair.

"They'll be returning soon." Dul lowered the front legs of his chair back to the floor.

Fili scowled. "Will they?"

Dul's face was stony, stuck in the grimace he usually wore. "We must hold fast to hope that they will."

* * *

Thorin held out an arm to Nur, who took it gladly and clung to it in hope as they climbed the hill in short strides.

Ahead of them was the tree line and they could see torches further in—their enemy not daring enough to expose themselves from the tall trunks. Nur believed herself to be looking at the bodies of small bears standing on their hind-legs, but as the distance closed, she could see she was mistaken. These were dwarves. They were much shorter than Thorin, but the tallest of them was level with her, and the way they held themselves reminded her of crouching orcs.

Thorin came within twenty paces and stopped, addressing the figures that held torches. "We have come. Speak."

Two of the smaller dwarves walked forward.

One of them was red-haired; so curly and scraggly were the locks of his head and beard that they obscured his face except for the pair of eyes which seemed to be uncolored, but black throughout. The other had a deep black head of hair pulled into a ponytail and a straight beard reaching to his waist.

"Do I stand in the presence of Ibun and Khim?" Thorin asked, leaning his head to the side.

The dwarves bowed, not taking their eyes off of Thorin.

"I am Khim." Spoke the red-haired dwarf. "And we did not ask for you to accompany the lass."

"Perhaps Thorin is wise in learning who we are, but not so wise in taking directions." Ibun, the black-haired dwarf, said without introducing himself.

Thorin sighed. "We are here to parlay for the safety of the outpost."

"If you have spent a few days amongst them, you will understand our demands." Khim said.

Thorin nodded. "You want to know how to enter the mountain. I have come for the same purpose but found nothing to make me believe it exists anymore."

"An opening can be dug easily if there is a passage on the other side." Khim countered.

"And none of the traders know—"

"That's a lie." Spoke a voice from behind the petty-dwarf leaders. Out of the trees crept a familiar figure. "That is not what Dul has told you."

"Gren." Thorin sneered. "I did not know to count you among enemies, but I always distrusted your demeanor."

Gren bowed at this remark. "You see me now as I am. A 'petty-dwarf' I believe you call us."

Nur grunted. "You heard what we heard, Gren, Dul does not know where the tunnels are."

Gren raised a finger to object. "He said they possessed clues. We only want you to persuade Dul to give them to us. We will allow Thorin to return to the outpost, but the Princess Nur," he said with malice, "stays with us as incentive."

Khim glanced nervously at Thorin, obviously doubting his physical ability to take on the larger dwarf, and grumbled at Ibun in a strange tongue. Ibun approached to grab at Nur's elbow, but Nur swung out a fist, weakly clapping the smaller dwarf on the chin, while a growl rumbled from Thorin's throat.

Khim rolled his eyes. "They will _both_ return." He turned to face Gren, "Don't push _our_ luck with _your_ demands." And then added in a lower voice, "We'll have her soon enough anyway."

"You have an hour to fetch Dul." Ibun said.

Reluctant to turn his back toward the enemy, Thorin slowly guided a trembling Nur back down the hill. She was not trembling with fear, but with anger, hating the dwarves who had almost had their way with her and relieved that she would be returning soon to the relative safety of the outpost.

It seemed to take ages, getting back to the gates, but the guards on post were waiting anxiously for their return and opened quickly for them.

Nur noted that the feast had ended and everyone had gone back to their homes, unable to keep up any merriment when they learned what it cost them.

The only light she could see was a small candle from the dining hall of the inn. Kili appeared in the lodge's doorway with a smile and bounded down the steps, trotting toward them and embracing them both. Fili, less enthused, stood on the porch with his arms crossed, watching them as they came closer.

Kili held an arm out for Nur and with the other hand clapped his uncle on the back, wordlessly following them as they walked, grinning from ear to ear.

While Thorin and Kili passed by them and into the lodge to find Dul and discuss their meeting, Fili and Nur stood outside on the porch, bathed in moonlight.

Nur looked up at him, wondering what to say. She wanted to hold him and wash away the distress she'd just felt, but she was afraid he was angry with her.

Fili stared at her, alternately glaring and looking as though he might be brought to tears.

But then his arms wrapped around her and he held her closely with as much strength as he dared, unable to keep his anger anymore. He breathed out his anguish with heavy breaths into her hair.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, not bothering to fight the tears. "I'm so sorry."

They stood in that embrace for minutes, neither speaking, but both contented to feel the others body close. She ran a hand over his bicep, enjoying the feel of the muscle under the thin layer of cloth from his tunic and letting his warmth envelope her and soothe her nerves. She wanted this moment to last forever, but her own muscles were giving way to exhaustion.

"Fili?" She finally muttered. "I haven't slept in two days. I'm… I'm dead on my feet."

He released her shoulders, but swung her whole body into his arms, cradling her against him and walking into the inn. He smirked when he realized this was the second time that day he carried her up those steps, though now she was not inclined to struggle.

Nur rested her head against his chest with her arms locked around his neck, as Fili walked down the hallway. Instead of walking into his room, he turned the other direction and brought her to the opposite one. He lowered her to the bed, bringing the blanket over her and returning the smile she gave him.

Fili surprised her by pulling the chair over to the side of the bed and sat hunched over, taking Nur's hand. He felt he couldn't leave her just yet. He had spent the better part of a half hour worrying over her and needed a little more time just seeing her safe…

He traced a finger along the veins in her wrist, smoothing over the skin. Shutting her eyes, but keeping a contented smile, Nur soon felt the edges of black pulling at her consciousness.

She fought it for a moment and said, "You'd be much more comfortable in a bed."

He paused his finger on her hand, his heartbeat speeding a little. She realized she implied that he should join her, but then added, "I'm not the only one who needs your comfort. You shouldn't be long from your brother."

"I'm having a hard time letting you out of my sight… You told me to trust you and then you lied to me." He blurted out the words before he could stop them. By Durin, he was tired… and his loose tongue was proof of it.

Nur turned her head on the pillow, looking away. "Everything turned out alright."

"You weren't certain of that, though, not with the way you kissed me—"

"They wouldn't have spoken with us if I hadn't been there. Thorin offered to come with me." She said. "It was breaking your heart to see him go, but I knew that once you found out about me that you would feel more at ease in knowing he was there to protect me."

Fili thought on this and realized it was true; those agonizing moments had been made easier in knowing that Thorin would not let anything happen to her. "Will you be going back?"

"No." She would have said more, but it was becoming harder and harder to stay awake.

Fili ran a few fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead, realizing how sleep-deprived she was.

"Promise me you won't leave again." He muttered in her ear.

She nodded, her eyes remaining closed, and Fili couldn't be sure that she'd heard him at all, but would have to be satisfied with that nod. After Nur began to snore quietly, he placed her arm back on the bed, tip toeing into his own room.

He had taken care not to wake his brother and after removing his boots he climbed beside in on the large mattress. Closing his eyes, he was descending into sleep when Kili's voice broke through the silence.

"I'm sorry."

Fili turned to his side to face Kili's back, fixing his eyes on the head that wouldn't turn to look at him. "What do you have to be sorry about?"

"I don't know. In the chaos of everything happening here, I just want to make sure I've apologized for anything stupid I might have done."

"Durin's beard, Kee. You've done nothing stupid and certainly nothing requiring an apology. Sleep well, nadadith."

Kili barely managed. "Sleep—" let alone "—well, nadad." Before exhaustion took him.

Fili patted Kili's shoulder and lay again on his back, wondering just how much more chaos he could take before he went completely mad.

* * *

Early morning came and the elders of the outpost were assembled. Dul spoke to them of his meeting the previous evening with the petty-dwarves, recounting their demand that the traders had one day to assemble clues before the petty-dwarves returned the following nightfall.

Thorin, being a brilliant strategist, had already given some thought as to how they could use the opportunity to help the outpost occupants escape, and Dul assisted in outlining the plot, ending the meeting by sending everyone to various tasks.

The afternoon had been full of movement throughout the square. Bodies passed each other quickly and not one occupied the benches or chairs in the small trading post. Eyes had become alive again, wisps of hope trailing through the air, and all were able-bodied and willing to work.

Thorin had removed his furs and cloak down to his tunic and lifted some of their heavier burdens, showing Fili that his heart was with this small settlement and that no job was too small for the man who would someday retake his throne and be King.

As the sun began to set and the hustle had died down, Kili and Fili sat beside each other on the edge of the lodge's porch, their legs dangling over the edge. Sweat soaked their shirts and the heat of the day was thick on their faces, but as the afternoon became later a breeze began to chill the air.

Dul stepped toward them to join their conversation, giving Kili a bit of advice for the oncoming task he would be performing. Fili was uncomfortable in the dwarf's presence. Dul had lied to him regarding one of the people he held most dear and he could not shake the sharp fury rising from his inward accusation that Dul could have done more to prevent what had happened.

The blonde dwarf headed into the lodge, shaking off the awkward feeling Dul gave him and ascending the stairs. He glanced backward at the porch, catching sight of Nur with a large and heavy water-skin approaching Dul and Kili. He almost tripped on one of the steps as he did so and made a point of turning to look at where his cumbersome feet landed.

Ruffling a hand through his tangled knots, he headed to his room and unpacked a clean shirt. Pulling off the soaked shirt, he let it land with a wet sound on the ground beside his feet when he realized someone was behind him.

He wheeled around to face Nur, who almost dropped a canteen on the floor.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked, though he was hardly self-conscious.

Her mouth opened and closed, trying to speak, but only saying, "just now… I…"

He blushed a little. "Have you never seen a half-naked lad before?"

She caught herself staring at his sculpted upper body and released a sharp breath stomping her foot. "Yes, but…" she looked away, peeked at him quickly, and then looked away again. "… fat ones."

Fili's roar of laughter had him doubling over with his hands on his knees.

Nur's cheeks blazed with red and she couldn't help but smile and shake her head. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" He grinned impishly.

"Stop… flexing, or whatever you're doing."

"I'm not doing anything." He cackled. Fili pulled the clean shirt over his head, much to Nur's relief—and disappointment. She would have died of embarrassment if he'd heard her thoughts. _Do you know, handsome dwarf, what you do to me?_

"Is there something you should be doing?" He asked, glancing down to lace the strings on his collar. "I'd like a quiet moment."

She nodded, thinking that he wanted her to leave and turning to go, but he grasped her hand and added, "With _you_, lovely lass. Sorry, I meant with _you_. Follow me."

After descending the stairs, Fili took her through the dining hall to an alternate door, avoiding the front porch, and leading to the back of the inn and outside to the pit he'd used the day before to hunt with his brother.

He landed on his feet in the first pit with a heavy impact, and holding his arms out to help Nur descend. They ducked under the fence-line and out the other side.

With either hand on her waist, he raised her to sit on the wall of the pit while he stood on the pit floor in front of her, between her knees.

They spoke of nothing important, just chatter about homes and families. Eventually, she turned him around so that his back was toward her and she ran her fingers like a brush through the clumps of matted hair that frustrated her. He hissed when she brushed against the scab on his scalp—a badge of determination which Dul had awarded him with when he'd learned of Nur's departure—but otherwise reveled in her touch on his wavy blonde strands.

Fili would have been content to stand like that for hours, but he knew their time was short. Turning his front to her, he put his hands on her waist and rested his elbows on her knees. Looking at her very seriously, he asked, "What do you want in days to come, dear heart?"

Nur huffed. "Well, I wouldn't mind being somewhere other than here."

Fili shook his head. "That's not what I mean—tell me… In a life with me."

Nur smiled a bit. "Nothing too complicated." But then she blushed.

"Tell me." He insisted.

She laughed a little. "I don't want to scare you. Most dwarf men aren't interested."

"And you know that I am not like most. I have suffered loss and understand the value of certain things… certain people."

"Well, then… I don't care if it is a shack in the wilderness or the fortress of a mountain… I'd like a large fireplace to warm the room during a winter's day and a cozy chair to read from. A thick rug just in front of that fireplace, where our children play with their father."

"How many children?"

"Just as many as we can make." She bit her lip and smiled. "I'd like a great wide bed we can all fit in together on the nights when those little ones are terrified of thunder, with as many pillows as can fit with us." She leaned forward a bit, her breath catching in her throat while her lips brushed his. "I'm going to need… a lot of pillows."

"Pillows." He nodded, kissing her tentatively.

"And on the nights… when there's no thunder and the little ones are asleep in their own beds… I want…" But Nur never finished her sentence because she preferred to show him with a forceful kiss. She pressed her hands to his shirt, outlining the muscles she'd seen in the room at the inn.

Fili pulled his hands away from her waist, but didn't stop kissing her, trying to give himself some room not to act on the impulse that shot up in his core.

He couldn't stop his fingers from tracing her collar bone, but he ended the action there. She seemed a little eager to encourage him with her kisses, one hand grasping strongly at the back of his head and the other trying to pull up his shirt—but he pulled himself away from her a moment, trying to clear his head.

"Nur, please—"

"Fili, are you there?" came the voice of Kili from the other side of the wall.

"Barely." Fili answered breathlessly, avoiding eye contact with Nur.

"We're assembling in the square in a few minutes."

Fili breathed through his nose, settling himself. "We'll be there shortly."

Kili laughed something in reply, but it couldn't be heard as he withdrew.

Fili turned to look at Nur with a determined face. "Princess Nur, you can bring me to the edge of my sanity and back, but I beg of you… do not drive me to the edge of those other limits I cannot cross…"

Nur's face filled with shame and she nodded dejectedly.

"That being said—" He knelt in the dirt below her, realizing how awkward the distance from his hand to hers suddenly was with her high seating above him. "I love you, Nur. And I want to call you mine. You ask for so little and I want to give you what you have described. Would you consent to marrying the wandering would-be prince of a land we may never reclaim but hope to—"

"Yes." She cut him short with a laugh. "Save your titles because I answer yes to Fili."

He rose and kissed her again, urgently, but not with the overwhelming longing as before. Among most dwarf kingdoms it was the lady who should initiate the marriage proposal, but he was appealing to the customs of the Iron Hills and merely letting her know his wishes.

It was also a hurtle for them both that in cases of royalty, the father had the most say when it came to Iron Hills lasses, and neither of them knew how King Dain would react.

"This is not how I wanted to ask you." Fili murmured. "But I'm a little pressed for time. I wish I had a ring, from my uncle's great hoard—"

"I don't need a ring." Nur insisted, kissing him again before sliding down into the pit.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

They emerged from the pit on the inside of the fence, Fili climbing to the top and pulling Nur after him. They walked, hand in hand, to the square, Nur feeling a little timid in light of Thorin's plan. Would she be able to do all that Thorin called for?

Squeezing Fili's hand, she willed some of his strength to come to her through the touch and told herself that she would soon belong to him alone and be sitting in the comfort of her described armchair with their fireplace aglow.

Fili's hold on her hand wavered, and she could see that he was glancing at his brother from far off.

"Please go to him." She insisted, releasing her grip. "If there's something we need to get straight right away it's that I won't ever be the thing that comes between you."

"You couldn't come between us." Fili chuckled.

"Look at me." She halted him with a hand to his arm and looking seriously at him, waiting for his full attention. "Your brother is more important than me."

"Nur—"

She shook her head quickly. "If we married and I died I would want you to move on, to remarry, and I'm sure that after years of loneliness that you would. You can't do that with Kili."

Fili looked intently at her, only whisking his head to look at the distant Kili for a moment before returning to her narrow gaze.

She sighed. "There's so much unknown happening here, so much confusion—but I don't want you to be confused about this. Take care of your brother if you can only choose one of us. Promise me you will."

Fili's face tensed. "What a thing to make me promise to my queen only minutes after I've proposed to her."

Nur blushed and shifted her weight, but eyed him expectantly.

"Then I'll grant it to you if you'll promise me something in return."

"Anything." She sighed happily.

Tucking a knuckle under her chin and drawing her close to his face in an determination, he whispered, "Don't get killed. Defend yourself But do whatever is necessary… and wait for me, I will find you when this is all over."

She nodded, trembling, while he bent closer and kissed her forehead. She hoped that he did not realize he was the source of her jitters and weakly pulled away to join a distant body of dwarves.

The sun was setting and an orange glow touched on whatever surface it could clasp before its descent. Kili sat in the same place as they had before, feet dangling over the edge of the inn's porch. Fili placed his hands on the edge and lifted himself to join his brother.

"Congratulations." Kili murmured.

"For what?" Fili stared at his feet, adjusting a bootstrap and slicing a cut onto the tip of his finger, which he held it up in amazement.

"Firstly, for being so incredibly witty," Kili smirked, retrieving a tissue-like cloth from his pocket and handing it to Fili, "as to do something like that."

"That's never happened before." Fili grumbled, sucking the drop of blood and waving off Kili's offer. "I don't need that, that's for your fletching; you've no need to dirty it with my blood."

"And secondly," Kili said, a little irked, pushing the cloth back into his pocket. "for your engagement."

Fili paused. "Thank you." He said a little hesitantly.

"I'm sure you'll be very happy together." Kili muttered under his breath.

"Well, that was morose. How can I be happy if you…" Fili's voice trailed off as he took in Kili's grimace. "…Kili, we've almost no light left in the day and already you're finding something to be upset with me about. I thought you wanted me to be with Nur."

"I do." Kili paused. "I don't."

Fili nodded. "That complicates things."

"No, you've complicated things." Kili said.

"Would dragons come down and cover me in flames! My brother is as stubborn as those same beasts…" But Fili became thoughtful again and tried to think like his brother did. It was a difficult pathway, trying to navigate Kili's logic, but not so difficult that Fili could not do it. "Things won't be the same."

Kili tried to avert his gaze, but Fili's words revealed his heart and lay his thoughts open before him. "Yes."

"Never in my life have I left you alone in such a way as this."

"Those are much sappier words than I would have chosen, but something to that extent…"

"I'm not sappy."

"Nur makes you sappy. You can admit it without shame."

Fili snorted. "Nur was the one who made me promise I'd look after you at her expense. To choose you over her if it came to it."

Kili picked at the edges of the cloth which had made its way out of his pocket again.

"She said you were more important to me than she is." Fili continued.

"It's not likely she's right—"

"But you are."

"Our uncle might poke fun at us for sounding like love-struck ladies, but you just took the cake."

"I hope you fall in love with an orc."

"I'll have to, have you seen the ladies court awaiting us?"

"Our mother is in that court." Fili defended.

"Brother, that would be incest."

"Are you lasses finished, yet?" A grumble moaned from behind them. They only needed to glance at the bulky legs attached to the voice to know who it was. "Take heed to what you speak about my sister."

Fili blushed in utter embarrassment at his uncle's words while Kili let out a boisterous laugh.

"The sun has set." Thorin announced, making his way down the stairs. "Make ready to act in a few hours."

But before he could make it further to the square, they were met by a rushing Dul.

"We have a problem." The man breathed. He pointed to a gathering of petty-dwarves approaching the sand before it. They had left the comfort of their trees and now exposed themselves bravely, revealing their numbers to be twice that of the outpost. _But_, Fili commented in his head, _these are the only ones we can see and there are likely more hidden._

"They can't come now." Dul murmured in a low voice as though he was afraid the petty-dwarves would hear them from this distance. "We're not ready."

"We have to be." Thorin snapped and started giving instructions. "We need to change our plans. Kili, you're still on watch. Just try to keep your aim true."

"You'll be right there with them." Kili argued. "My aim will have nothing to do with the distance; you'll be in the way."

"There's nothing we can do about that, now." Thorin hushed him with a hand. "We'll see what we can do, but for now you should aim for the rear, not the front. Smiddag and the others' goal is unchanged. Fili and Dul, you're with me—let's hope we can find some way to prolong talks to give the traders as much time as they can to flee."

Fili's muscles tensed and he shifted his weight. "That leaves Nur unprotected."

Thorin's sideway glance scolded him enough that he bit back the rest of his comment. "She can defend herself well enough, Fili. We don't have time for anything else."

They dispersed to their duties: Kili climbing the steps to the guard tower above the gate, dragging a bucket that splashed a with his uneven steps, and perching himself behind the open window while he clung to his waiting bow; Smiddag standing by bales of hay to the side of the gate, concealed from sight and watching Thorin intently; Nur and a group of twenty dwarves gathering together at one of the side walls behind a shop hut.

Fili chanced a look behind him while he followed Thorin to the gate, but Nur was already tending to huddled bodies beyond sight.

Returning his view to his uncle, Fili tried to stride calmly beside Dul and Thorin.

Low growls could be heard from among the petty-dwarves that stood before them and Thorin assessed the mood of the crowd to be one which would ignite to action, like a flash fire, if given the right spark.

Ibun and Khim stood a few feet in front of the tiny army they'd assembled while Gren stood slightly between them and the other bodies. The cluster held torches, but they also looked to be holding the handles of their weapons.

Khim bellowed before Thorin could speak, "Does Thorin, King under no mountain, believe his adversaries to be witless and blind? Or are you so hopeless that you do not bother to conceal your desperate acts?"

Thorin raised his hands peacefully, but spoke in irritation. "Speak your thoughts, I have no need for—"

"You have been buzzing like bees in the springtime!" Ibun shouted with an accusatory finger. "To and fro, you move about—"

"We have been gathering your articles as promised." Dul growled.

"You have had us in a chokehold for a year now. These people are anxious to give you what you want for their release."

"Their release?" Gren laughed from the small distance away. Ibun and Khim looked him with a sneer, but made no objection to him speaking. "Have our negotiations provided for that?"

"But we do not have to honor it if you are performing treachery." Khim spat on the ground. "Our crows have been watching your every move and declared to us that you have done nothing but wet the walls of your outpost and pack for your journey."

"Did you think that would still prevent us from burning them?" Ibun scoffed. "That water on wood would protect your precious fortress?"

Fili mustered all his self-control into stifling a smile. He hoped they did not see the rush of blood in his cheeks by their torchlight as his face was not as stony as his more experienced uncle's was. He was grateful at least that he could gloat in his head: It wasn't water on the walls.

Thorin bowed his head in false self-defeat. "You have pressed us to the breaking point, what was I to do?"

Ibun and Khim shared a look of pride and cackled at each other. "Perhaps you were wise in knowing us the other night, but we are the wiser now."

The horde behind them laughed in unison and Fili felt a stab of sympathy. It was not sympathy for Thorin's honor, he knew Thorin did not care, but because Thorin's only strategy for prolonging time was to almost goad the petty dwarves into mocking him. It bought the time needed to let the traders escape through the newly dug hole under the wall and into a section of forest. And oh, how he had far to go yet…

"I did not think to be outdone by petty dwarves." Thorin moaned, giving them an unnecessary scrap of credit for their "wit".

Again the crowd roared with laughter. Khim and Ibun were practically rolling at the honor he'd "inadvertently" given them. Fili tried to keep his face looking distraught, but he was sure it looked more like disgust. Surely, Dul looked disgusted.

"No, my Lord." Dul stepped toward Thorin. "Do not give them the hope that they can gain victory over you."

"But we have!" Khim spoke through his red, frazzled mane. "_That_ was your counterplan? _Defense_ was your only thought in withstanding us? Then it is no wonder you have not yet taken the mountain! What sorry tactics you were taught by those who clearly didn't know any better themselves!"

This struck Thorin to the heart—they could wag their tongues regarding him, but now they began to belittle the sacrifice of his father and grandfather. He did his best to check his anger, turning as though dishonored, to face the guard tower and lock eyes with Kili.

Kili shook his head and mouthed the word "no". The traders were not a safe distance away yet. Thorin turned again, bracing himself for more jabs.

"But come." Ibun calmed with a gleam in his eye. "You may yet save yourselves the trouble of our occupation within your walls. Give us what we came for and you might avoid it."

"No," Fili gripped his uncle's shoulder. "Do not let them enter the outpost!"

Thorin ground his teeth. "Fili, they will do it anyway."

"My Lord," Dul pleaded. "Give them the parchment."

Thorin scowled in Dul's direction, stepping back from him and looking resigned.

Ibun stepped forward and opened his hand expectantly. Reaching into his fur-lined jacket, Thorin pulled out a small roll of thin animal hide.

Snatching it from his hand, Ibun withdrew to his brother's side and they observed the unrolled document together.

Gren took a step forward to examine it himself and nodded a little warily. While their attention was occupied, Thorin looked over his shoulder at Kili again, who now nodded quickly.

Thorin nodded back and returned his gaze to the smaller dwarves just before Ibun, not looking up from the parchment he held, motioned for his band of dwarves to enter the gates.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Fili panicked as he watched them pass by. "We've given you what you wanted!"

"I've got my doubts as to whether this parchment is as honest as you pretend it to be." Ibun said, finally looking up. "So as an extra precaution we're going to be holding some interrogations."

"But they don't know anything." Dul pleaded, watching the last of them trot into the square. He raised his head to make a subtle nod to Kili.

"I think _closer_ examination of them each will reveal another story." Khim grinned. "Especially Gren's betrothed."

Fili's mask changed and the false panic he portrayed suddenly bloomed into a terrible scowl. Gren brushed past Fili's shoulder with a bump, following the striding Ibun and Khim as they left the three standing there unguarded. The petty dwarves were not afraid of the three running off, knowing they wouldn't abandon everyone in the outspost.

"Now, Kili!" Thorin shouted, losing no more time and enclosing his arms around Fili.

The next moment was short, while also feeling as though it stretched on endlessly. In the slowness of things, Fili could see Kili raising his bow to aim at the sand where they stood, the tip of his arrow immersed in fire.

He watched in curiosity as time had lagged enough to let him watch a swift release become an arrow moving at the speed of an ant crawling on the ground. He could see Kili's familiar jeer as the dwarf's releasing fingers stayed by the corner of his mouth and waited for the fletching to pass the bowstring; the twang of the bow sounded numb and muted in this suddenly sluggish world.

Fili felt the hands of his uncle around him, Thorin's body shielding his, and Dul moving to do the same to Thorin's back as the arrow made its clumsy impact in the dirt only fifteen paces from them.

There was a fierce eruption of fire and a boom that made Fili's ears hurt as the black powder mingled into dirt. A mound of gravel shot up in a secondary wave and Fili was pressed to the ground, Dul absorbing most of the impact and smashing Thorin further into his nephew.

There were fragments of something that hit Fili in the head, but he didn't feel them as much as he should have, so warped were his senses. His vision clouded around the edges and was sharpened in the center, taking in the speed of time which had returned to normal.

He saw Kili running down the stairs.

He saw the petty-dwarves flung back and forced into the center of the square, far from the gate and far from escaping.

He saw Smiddag lighting the walls with a torch.

He saw the other handful of dwarves lighting their set positions of wall on fire with their own torches.

He saw two hefty traders shoving their weight against the gates to help them close that much faster.

He saw Ibun and Khim being closed inside, unmoving as they'd caught the majority of the blast.

He saw the gate angrily consumed in flame.

And then he saw nothing.


	12. Chapter 12

_Listen while you read: "Barton Hollow" The Civil Wars or type in youtube and add /watch?v=XFlRxMJPM_0_

**Chapter 12**

_Through Kili's eyes_

The outpost lit up faster than I expected. I guess it should, doused with the pitch we applied, but I just didn't think it would be an inferno so quickly…

I raced down the guardhouse steps, gathering my bow behind me, knowing that our stunned enemy wouldn't need much fending off after the shock they'd just absorbed.

A second blast sounded to my right, pushing back a few bodies of the petty-dwarves and making the more able-bodied ones afraid to approach the gate to escape.

It worked perfectly; Uncle Thorin was a genius. The blasts corralled our enemy deeper inside of the fort while it baked like an oven.

The air was heavy around me and too warm for comfort so my lungs began to heave a little. I was trying to make my way to our retreat position: the new pit which Nur had used about half an hour ago.

I shot a look at the front gate while the double doors swung into themselves, seeing Fili, Thorin, and Dul through the crack.

"Durin's halls." I moaned to myself. "Run!" I couldn't waste time worrying over whether they looked uninjured, I needed to get out of this blaze!

I caught sight of a few petty-dwarves making their way to the back of the inn—the last spot they knew had been open under the fence—and hummed in a little satisfaction. We'd plugged that hole, cutting off the only other exit they knew aside from the gate, and that had been locked from the outside with a great beam if all had gone according to plan.

The oppressors of the loyal traders would roast in this furnace, feeling in their last moments the same hopelessness they'd inflicted on Dul and his companions.

I did not even bother to pause before the pit; I hurled my body in, rolled on the floor of the bottom, and launched myself out the other side all in a single burst of energy. It would have been an impressive display if anyone had seen it, but I would have to satisfy myself with the fulfilment of escape.

My relief was short-lived because my post was now to wait at the pit to make sure the other outpost dwarves made it through. I was nervous, so close to the flaming wall, and my fear began to peak as I noticed that only four of the five bodies made their way through, huffing and coughing as they sped past me and eager to get away from the flames. There were supposed to be five! Where was Smiddag?

I bounced on my heels anxiously. I hated fire.

And it did not help matters much that I had attempted to overcome that fear in the woods when Fili had entered a burning house. It was terror of losing him against phobia of flame then, but _now_ I was alone.

Now I waited in anguish, knowing that Smiddag had not emerged because he probably needed help.

My vision was fuzzy and I felt myself sinking into a strange numbness, dropping to my backside with a hand behind me to steady the fall.

Had I lost my footing? No, my legs just stopped working. My body was refusing to let me get closer to the fire in an effort to save me—and then my hearing dulled. All I could hear was the deep thumping of my heart pushing blood through my ears.

I rose again on weak legs to crawl under the blazing wall and re-enter the outpost.

All was madness.

The chaos of bodies running past each other, some even daring to climb the walls while they burned, was startling.

I shook my head and remembered my goal—Smiddag was supposed to be standing next to a stack of hay—kindling—under the guard tower when Thorin had left him. Would he be there now?

But I only needed to step forward a bit to find my answer.

Smiddag and another dwarf lay upon each other in a heap, only feet away from the pit where I stood. If I judged things correctly, Smiddag had been on his way to freedom when he'd encountered a foe sent to stop them. And he'd paid for the passage of the other four dwarves with his life.

I murmured a blessing concerning his ancestors and shuffled my way back to the dirt opening, ready to be rid of this awful place.

But I couldn't leave it at that—I should hide the opening after I duck into it… I found myself dragging the dead bodies of the dwarves at my feet, tugging at them while I descended to the bottom of the hole. I intended to cover my exit with their bodies. None of those petty-dwarves deserved such an easy escape.

I began to duck under the planks of the wall when a flaming board fell in front of me.

If my adrenaline had been running before then it was overwhelming now, because I couldn't move and I couldn't think.

I sat there staring at the tongues of fire licking out at me and cutting off my outside escape route, the bodies of the fallen dwarves trapping me from the rear. Horror filled up my chest until I drowned in it.

"Kili, come on!" A hand appeared out of nowhere.

_Who is Kili? You don't mean me, do you? I'm a rock._

"Kili, look at me!" The voice commanded.

It sounded familiar, who was that_? Fili. Its name is. Why is Fili shouting at a rock, what am I to him?_

"Come! Before the whole wall comes down on you!"

But I was stone and stones did not move. Stones like to sit where they are and take in the cool air. Why was it so hot here?

I felt hands enclose me and scoot me under something. Was someone intending to put me in his pocket? _Maybe they'll use me as a skipping stone,_ I thought hopefully_, I like water._

"Your leg is on fire." Fili grumbled, patting the flames off of my coat.

_Coat? Do rocks wear coats? _

Another rock slammed me hard in the face, causing my head to spin back and my eyes to open wide. _Ow. Wait… I have a head. _I wasn't a rock, I was a dwarf.

"Kili!" Thorin's bellow came from my right.

I turned my head to face him and realized I was sitting on the ground with Thorin kneeling before me and Fili pulling off one of my boots.

"Why are you taking my boot off?" I said, still in a trance. And then I rubbed my jaw. "Did you hit me?"

Thorin squinted at me, assessing me, and sighed heavily while clapping a hand on my shoulder. Fili did not answer me either, but I would learn later that it wouldn't have made a difference if they had because I was in shock.

They lifted me off the ground, either of my arms around their necks and I limped forward between them. Part of me wanted to glance back at the orange glow behind me, but when I tried to move my head to do it, Thorin reached out with his hand and turned it back, forcing me to look forward again.

My foot hurt. Fili was carrying my boot with the hand that wasn't around my waist.

We walked like that, my disorientation wearing off after a while. Setting me on a rock next to some trees—there were so many trees here, it was a wonder we could pass through side by side—Thorin and Fili began speaking in hushed tones.

I took the moment to examine my foot, which throbbed and ached though I didn't know why, and found that I'd apparently twisted it. I put a little pressure on it and was surprised to note that it didn't hurt badly; at least, it wouldn't stop me from navigating this maze of trees. I was done letting Thorin and Fili drag me through like a drunken idiot.

It was dark now, and the moons rays would have been light enough to see by if they were able to penetrate the thick overhead brush of the trees above us. There were a few spots highlighted by the evening glow, but with the fire so far behind us we were submerged in blackness.

I poked at Fili's shoulder and held out a hand to receive the boot, and he would have made some argument with me, but I stopped him with a shake of my head and said, "We can't catch up with Nur if you're carrying me."

Fili sighed and relented the footwear, sneering at the smile I flashed him in victory. I decided that maybe Nur's influence over him wasn't such a terrible thing and might even be a little fun.

"With no way to count their numbers hiding in the forest surrounding the trade post," Thorin concluded his conversation with Fili, "We have to assume that the escaped traders ahead of us have taken the brunt of an assault if one has happened."

"But we've found nothing in our path so far that says they've been attacked." Fili said, clinging to hope.

Thorin eyed him grimly. "We can have faith that our enemy may have scattered in seeing their leader brought down, but the tradesmen escaped long before we made our move and it is likely the petty-dwarves tailed them for a distance before overtaking them."


	13. Chapter 13

_Listen while you read: "Sail (instrumental) by Awol Nation or type youtube and add /watch?v=sg_TpbODUyE_

**Chapter 13**

Dul had covered Thorin's body from the blast of the explosion, taking the force of impact and the sting of flying gravel in his back. His muscled arms reached around the huddled bodies of Thorin and his heir, releasing them just as soon as the gates had begun to close.

Things were moving quickly and he had to act fast if he was going to catch up to his companions in the forest. He murmured something to Thorin, unsure what his words sounded like as they tumbled out of his mouth, but Thorin knew what the fellow was trying to say.

"Go!" Thorin shouted, waving Dul away and picking up his nephew, who looked stunned, but unharmed.

Dul sprinted through the trees, long sword swinging in its sheath, and footfalls heavy. He was surefooted and sped through the trunks without missing a beat.

He heard Thorin and Fili follow for a moment, knowing they were heading for the wall where Kili was supposed to meet them, but Dul did not look back to see whether the archer had made it or not. He was determined that no distance or length of time would keep him from coming to the aid of his people if they were in peril—and he suspected they were.

While Dul darted through trees, he glanced at shadows passing him by, but they were running toward the outpost, probably to determine why there were explosions.

He noticed a few minutes into his dash that none of the petty-dwarves had followed him and he prayed that they had left the fleeing tradesmen alone.

It took some time, but eventually he heard a scuffle ahead and approached a group of dwarves holding torches and struggling with each other. A number of his comrades were grappling their opponents, wrestling with might only a dwarf can exert.

Only two of Dul's allies carried weapons: Smerri, who was waving an axe chaotically, and Nur, who strode toward a grey haired petty-dwarf and struck him down with one of Fili's twin swords. It was not an elegant blow, but Dul could tell she had been very basically trained.

Nur flung the bloody body aside in disgust. She wiped the back of her hand across her sweaty brow and immediately scolded herself for doing so, breaking the flow of movement. The swordmaster of the Iron Hills would have reproached her for it, but she did not have long to think on it before another dwarf replaced the one she cut down.

Dul sprang into action, defending his fellow outposters and straining every muscle to comply with the ferocity steadily building in his chest.

The terror in the petty-dwarves eyes grew in seeing the berserker. A good number of them fled in the direction of the fort, and the few who remained were overcome in minutes.

Dul had called upon the haunting images of his delicate wife withering away under the corruption of the toxins she'd unknowingly eaten, driving him to the brink of red wrath which would stop him from recognizing friend from foe—but Nur called out to him in her distinctly female voice and he wavered, thinking for a moment that perhaps his beloved had risen from death and was calling to him now.

The infuriated dwarf looked up and did not see his wife; a small tinge of disappointment pulling at his chest when he deciphered the harsh reality of where he was.

"Nur…" He heaved his breaths through his wide ribs. "Is anyone hurt?"

Nur had watched, wide-eyed as Dul became a whirlwind of blade and blood. It was terrifying to her, and she took little comfort from the knowledge that he was her ally—she couldn't be certain he would have recognized any allies in such a state.

She called his name and his eyes locked with hers, a mix of confusion and longing slowly turning to weariness and almost… disappointment?

He asked her if anyone was injured.

She looked around to assess the damage at their feet. They'd managed a small battle in the midst of trees and Nur watched as Dul's senses woke him to the damage he'd inflicted—trunks hacked away and fallen logs supporting the idea that he had been fighting just as much wood as dwarf.

He shook his head and wiped his sword on the ground, cleaning it of blood, and sheathing it before he gathered the group together.

Though Smerri had been brave, he'd done little damage and his arm drooped from the exertion of wielding such a heavy weapon. The traders had suffered only two casualties, while the petty-dwarves had lost fifteen, and the wounded were still able to navigate the terrain with ease. They had been fortunate.

"Do we keep going?" Nur asked, slinking to Dul's side and dabbing a ripped sleeve at a gash in his arm.

"I'm not sure." He said honestly. He was still panting but his breaths were coming easier now. "I don't know if they'll be bold enough to follow us further, but I think we should continue to make for the road."

"If any linger, they'll catch us on the road."

"I'll make them stop lingering." Dul said with a reassuring wink, clasping the hilt of his sheathed sword. "Besides, this terrain is too difficult on these weary folk and it stops us from speed. With the swiftness of the road, we may be able to outdistance the enemy."

Nur bit her lip and the balding dwarf eyed her knowingly. "We'll rest here for a short time." He said with a settling breath. "If they're late, we move on—they know where we're going, they'll be headed the same direction. And if they were overtaken…"

Nur frowned and refused to look at Dul.

"Then it won't matter either way."

"How can you say that?" spoke an eavesdropping Smerri. "Wouldn't we go back to help them?"

But Nur did not hear the answer that Dul gave to Smerri, moving instead to assist the travelers in caring for their injuries. She walked to each of them, giving them water, when the discussion between Smerri and Dul became heated and Dul looked as though he may strike the lad.

A third voice joined the conflict, and Nur looked up to see that it belonged to none other than the King under the Mountain. Relief washed over Nur in seeing her beloved safely walking behind Thorin.

But she was stirred to concern when he saw that Fili supported his brother and that his brother was limping painfully.

Kili's injury had proven, at first, easy to push past, but in putting his full weight on the twisted ankle he had aggravated it to the point of swelling and pain.

Nur handed the water skin to a younger lady dwarf and advocated her to see that everyone had drunk their fill, jogging over to the approaching trio and noting the absence of Smiddag.

"Where is Smiddag?" Dul asked Thorin, speaking Nur's thoughts.

"He fell defending the escape of the others." Kili said with a grimace.

"We've seen no others." Dul said, but the four stepped forward to confirm they'd joined into the fray while Dul fought.

Nur's pulse sped up at the sight of Fili, inspecting him and seeing that he was unharmed except for a small gravel burn on his elbow, and then feeling her heart sink when she took in Kili.

Kili spotted her examination of him and stopped leaning on his brother, trying to walk past her to ask for a water skin, but she stopped him with both hands.

"You just stand right where you are." She said firmly. "What happened?"

She knew he was pretending to ignore her, but Fili spoke up. "He fell."

"I left one mum at home and find myself on the road with five more." Kili moaned.

"His left foot." Fili said.

"Forget standing, dear, just sit." Nur pleaded, tugging at Kili's shoulder.

He brushed off her hands and said something in dwarvish, followed by Nur clapping her hand over her mouth and Fili scolding him for using such upsetting language—especially in front of a female, and most especially in front of a female of royal heritage—and Kili instantly apologized. He was busy hoping Thorin hadn't overheard him, though his uncle's scowl said differently, when Nur changed her tactics.

"Kili, listen to me very carefully." She said with her hands on her hips. "You can pretend nothing's wrong, walk on that foot painfully, let it get worse, and then have it turn into something bigger when we get home—and instead of a triumphant return, we'll be pulling you in on a gurney, with your mother fussing all over you in front of the whole royal court!"

Kili's eyes widened in horror.

"Or," she said with a softer tone and putting a gentle hand on his crossed arms. "You can let me look at it now, wrap it, and you can still walk on it painfully, but it will be stronger when it's bound—it won't get worse and there won't be any fussing. I won't even tell your mother if you don't want me to."

"You've never been this frightening before." Kili muttered and lowered himself to sit, stretching out his injured foot and removing the boot.

"You don't need to hide things, you're not a bother to anyone," Nur chided. "One day you're going to be seriously hurt and you'll wish you'd spoken up sooner."


	14. Chapter 14

_Listen while you read: "Keep your head up (instrumental)" Ben Howard or type youtube and add /watch?v=uPKcVupD48g_

_And "The Violet Hour" by The Civil Wars or type youtube and add /watch?v=O_pQC_tV3kQ_

**Chapter 14 **

The meager supplies they carried with them would be enough to rough it in the woods for a distance, but Thorin was concerned with the distance between them and the Iron Hills. Any other destination was out of their range and thus they endured a forced march.

Ever was Thorin's eye on the tracks they left behind, knowing enemy pursuit was a prospect though they had delayed it as much as they could. It was a hopeful thing to think that perhaps _all_ of their foes had perished in the ravaging fire of the outpost, but also unlikely. He considered, however, that in the case of the petty-dwarves survival, it would leave them desperate to recover rather than chase after the traders—and if a chase was inevitable, then they had distanced themselves enough to postpone it for at least a day.

When Durin's descendants and the tradesmen had rejoined in the darkest part of night, they discussed among themselves what course they should take next. Though everyone was exhausted, their nerves were such that they could not comfortably talk of resting and sleeping until daybreak.

It was a concession Thorin made hesitantly, for while they might feel more comfortable sleeping during the day and traveling by night, evening and morning made no difference in the threat of attack. And with so many bodies present, their movement would not be as swift as the travelers' journey to the outpost—they had been on ponies and they had been few.

They decided to travel until morning's first light, leaving the cover of the forest and finding the road easily enough. If any speed was to be gained, Thorin counseled, the road was their best option even if it did leave them exposed. But he was encouraged by the notion that the traders had held their own against the petty-dwarves that had followed. If they were forced to draw weapons again, it would _not_ be a massacre.

Along the road and under the bright light of the moon, they moved in silence, as few were willing to talk—as though perhaps they might attract danger with their hushed whispers. Their footsteps were enough noise as it was, sliding and scratching over the dry dirt of the paved path…

Thorin had wanted to stay in the rear of the hustle of thirty bodies to offer them a defense, but they begged him to take the lead. It was his sympathy for them that changed his mind—he saw that in their weariness they needed to see someone take command, even for the straight line they couldn't possibly get lost on.

Fili walked hand in hand with Nur, Nur's other hand slipped into the crook of Kili's elbow—she really meant it to be a support for Kili while he strode on his injured foot, and refused to diminish his dignity by aiding him around his waist knowing Kili wouldn't have let her anyway. But he was grateful for her hand; it reminded him of earlier days when they'd played together as children, before they'd resettled in the Blue Mountains away from the stronghold of the Iron hills.

Kili's foot was well-bound and the boot held fast, his pain minimal, but his exhaustion from smoke inhalation— coupled with the decline of energy after adrenaline—was hitting him hard.

The same weight was crushing Dul's shoulders so that he could hardly move.

Nur turned her head to look behind her and watched as Dul dragged his feet, his eyelids fluttering and his head shaking to ward off the sleep which would soon overtake him. The lady dwarf released the hands of the Durin brothers and stepped towards Dul, grabbing above his elbow and startling him back into the moment. He placed a hand over hers and continued forward, the two of them striding close, arm in arm, and Nur speaking in hushed tones to him.

Fili's discomfort around the bald dwarf had begun to wane, but the last remnants of it made him wish Nur would comfort someone else.

A side glance at Kili interrupted Fili's thoughts when his younger brother stumbled over a rock and almost sunk to the ground—if Fili hadn't caught him first. Fili wasn't worried about saving his brother's dignity, as Nur had before, and pulled Kili's arm over his neck, pulling him close and wrapping an arm around Kili's waist.

Fili expected that the younger dwarf would shrug him off, but his spirits dimmed in seeing Kili accept this aid without word or fuss, causing him to understand just how exhausted the younger dwarf was.

Their march continued like this for hours, each helping each other with their burdens as much as they could, when the stars diminished and the moon slid down the glassy curve of the sky. Its brother, the Sun began to climb with great effort, slow and sure, causing the travelers to breathe the first breaths of relief they'd felt in a great while.

"Here." Thorin pointed at the hills to their right. "We're heading here."

Dul found a burst of energy and squeezed Nur's shoulder, picking up speed to come to the front of the company and consult with Thorin. They spoke in low tones while the dwarves around them quickened their pace in seeing respite so close at hand. Even Fili noted that Kili was not drooping anymore.

There were three caves, two side by side, and one twenty paces away from those two, and the tired walkers did not need to be instructed to occupy them. They piled into heaps, not bothering to unpack or set aside their bundles. They were not starving, but they were far from being fed an allotment of healthy meals daily. And this is what Dul and Thorin discussed.

"We need to strengthen ourselves if we are to continue like this." Dul groaned, feeling his blood pulsing through his hands, which shook. "If we can manage a hunting party, it is sorely needed. Our rations are not going to be enough to invigorate such a mass of weakened bodies."

"We cannot tarry here for long, though I see that a day's rest is necessary if we are to march again. My friend," Thorin rested a hand on Dul's shoulder, "I cannot ask anything more of you, I need you to sleep. Concern yourself with recovering and I will handle all else."

Dul's jaw clenched, but he nodded and sighed, allowing himself to rest his worries in the hands of the only dwarf he wanted to call King.

Thorin gathered together Karta, Smerri, Fili, and Kili and walked with them a short way from the caves, out of earshot, though Thorin was sure no one was awake enough to hear them.

"We need to hunt and gather." Thorin said simply. "Our stock won't hold out for long."

"I can trap and set snares." Smerri offered. "That was mostly what we did in the fort anyway."

Thorin clapped a hand on the dwarf's shoulder. "Good lad. Do we have anything we could use for tackle?"

"That river won't give us much fish." Karta argued.

"Maybe not much," Fili countered. "But it will take some pressure off of the other means we have."

Kili pulled at his bow, gripping it silently, and Thorin nodded at him, understanding his offer.

"I can trap." A voice came from behind them and they all turned to see a standing Nur with her arms crossed. "You can only cover so much distance with one dwarf."

"Two." Fili corrected, implying his own task.

"Two is better than one, to be sure." She said a little crossly. "But three is better when one sees the number of mouths who benefit from it."

"Nur…" Fili began to object.

"Would you rather I was the one to take the first watch?"

"You'll be taking no watches." Thorin said firmly. "You're the only healer we have and that makes you too valuable to be wasted on defense."

Nur's fists clenched, but she nodded her head in submission.

"However," Thorin continued. "You are right about giving us better prospects of gathering more. Stay close to the area and be back in an hour."

Fili's heartbeat quickened. He did not like the idea of any sort of risk to Nur, but he had nothing to object with other than his discomfort, and so he let it go.

"Karta, would you see to our trappers needs for supplies?" Thorin asked, putting his hands together and nodding at everyone to disperse for their tasks. "I'll take up the watch. Return here three hours after midday and… keep an eye open."

They all moved in different directions, except for Fili, Kili and Nur, who stood where they were. Fili turned to Kili and they clapped forearms together, pulling close for a brief embrace before Kili jogged—or speedily limped—into the thick treeline.

Fili stared at Nur, taking in her expression as she braced herself for his displeasure. She was, however, startled when he briskly stepped to her and gathered her in his arms, putting his face into the hair on the top of her head. He took in her scent, which was undimmed despite smoke and pine tree, while she wove her hands around him and under his arms. They held each other firmly, standing and letting their closeness sink in until Nur's will was weakened by the warmth of his body.

Maybe she didn't want to go off on her own after all… maybe she just wanted to stay close beside him the entire day… maybe—but she could not ignore the memory of the groaning stomachs and the scuffle of aching feet. Her sense of duty was strong enough to override her personal desire to be comfortable in Fili's closeness.

She let him go with a sigh, responsibility ever taking her from the things she wanted. These people were not a burden to her, but she did wish she could have some more time…

Fili peered at her face and looked as though he understood her thoughts, reaching out and pulling her chin up with his fingers. "Think on the days to come—less danger, more time, and-"

He never finished because she had reached up to grab his face with her hands and lock him into a forceful kiss, which he gave into willingly.

His need for her flared up and he stepped back to give himself a moment to recover from it, though he held her hand. She flashed him a mischievous smile, knowing full well of his inner struggle to cope, and reveling in the thought that the day would soon come when he no longer had to fight it.

Fili released a deep breath as he steadied himself and gripped her hand with more strength than he should have, pulling on her arm and stepping forward so that his face was close enough to hers that her eyes could not escape his. Nur's eyes widened at his intensity.

"If you think so much as a badger is stalking you," he muttered in a low voice. "I want you to scream like a banshee and I'll come running."

"Yes, sir." She gulped, her lower lip trembling a little. Normally, it would have been the type of comment she would have countered with something humorous, but it was difficult to joke when his face was so close to hers with a startling passion that made her afraid.

She knew he would never hurt her, but when Fili displayed the mastery of his kingly heritage and summoned such intimidating power, he was a force to be reckoned with. She did not doubt that he had the ability to tear apart said badger with his bare hands.

His face softened a little when he saw his effect on her and he kissed her forehead.

Fili parted from her grasp and strode to Karta, Nur standing in a trance for a moment before making her way to the map maker. Karta had assembled various materials, which Fili and Smerri were glancing over when she joined them.

Nur pondered through the different traps and snares she knew, adding to her mental list the resources of the small forest behind them.

But she was missing something. "I'll need a—"

Before she could finish her inquiry, Fili reached into his gauntlet and flipped into the air a small knife, balancing the blade in his knuckles and pointing the handle to her.

"—knife." She smiled at the small blade and took it happily. It was a personal pleasure of hers whenever he had offered her something belonging to him—the first had been his pipe, which sent quiet thrills throughout her and the second had been one of his twin blades.

It was not because she was touched that Fili was willing to share with her, but because the belongings had been so intimately _his_ that she felt as though it were a piece of him she was taking with her.

A grin of satisfaction grew on her lips and he could not ignore her treasuring of the weapon, sending her heart soaring even higher when he left her with a small wink.

She was lightheaded when she departed the caves, heading toward the river, and couldn't help but say to herself, "Oh, the day when that I belong to that dwarf…"


	15. Chapter 15

_Listen while you read: "Roads untraveled (instrumental)" Linkin Park or type youtube and add /watch?v=6k44VxxKfBA_

**Chapter 15**

Kili hobbled a long distance from the dwarves camp, setting his eyes and ears to intensive observance of the trees. The night before, the large group had covered a surprising distance on the road, reaching a familiar point of their previous travels and coming to forest and hills which fueled Kili's hope that this nightmare would be over soon.

While he thought on this, he did not expect that a four-point buck would practically offer itself to him so quickly, but luck was on his side and he felled the deer with only two arrows.

Standing over the body of the animal and pulling his arrows loose from its flesh, a new problem dawned on him.

His injury, his march, and his lack of sleep were gaining on him, all at the same time in which he would have to drag the heavy carcass back to the caves. It was not too far, but it would still require strength—and he questioned whether or not he had it.

Kili, however, was determined to complete his task and dragged the beast at a slow pace, pausing often and favoring the foot which had swollen in his boot. He would not be surprised if the boot refused to come off, though he made no attempt to free his foot from it.

He was grateful no one had accompanied him; he was a little ashamed at the amount of time it took to haul the deer, seeing that it was almost midday. And that's when he felt a chill on his neck.

An unnerving feeling filled Kili, though he could not determine why.

He glanced around at the trees, sure that something had decided he was interesting enough to watch. He expected at least to see a squirrel, but his ears picked up almost no noise—and that was unsettling within itself. The forest always made a bit of noise…

He gripped his bow, instinct telling him that there was something watching him from behind, and strung an arrow before wheeling around and aiming at the source of the eyes he was sure were there.

But Kili's aim was a little off and he realized that there was a face looking at him from only a few feet to the left of the spot.

The body hurled itself from the tree branch at him, growling as it did, and the arrow which Kili loosed pushed the lunging body backward.

A crumpled pile of limbs and hair thudded against the leafy ground and Kili strung another arrow in anticipation of a second attack.

Turning to face his original direction, the approaching figure of Ibun was closing in on him and stopped only a few feet away, murmuring, "Ah, the would-be prince."

Kili speculated as to why Ibun stood there unmoving, but his question was answered with a sharp blow to his shoulder. Someone had struck him from behind and he could not turn to see them, dropping to his knees and almost falling over the deer at his feet.

He had meant to feign a fall and take the foe from behind by surprise, but when his knees made contact with the deer's antlers his plans changed to groaning and trying to suppress a cry.

Ibun waved an axe in a circle around his arm, preparing to deliver a killing blow. "This is for my brother."

"And this is for mine!" A voice snarled from behind Ibun. The black-haired petty-dwarf had not stopped his weapon from moving downward, only turning his face to see who was behind him. The heaving muscles of Dul pushed Ibun aside, causing his axe to come within inches of Kili's face.

Kili gasped, feeling the passing air from the weapon whoosh close to his eye and cheek, and he panted while trying to recover his senses.

The dwarf who had delivered the blow from behind Kili decided to ignore the now wrestling Dul and Ibun and finish his own task of taking on the Durin prince.

But Kili was prepared for him and grabbed the antlers of the deer, thrusting them over his head and stabbing his assailant through the chest. The surprised dwarf collapsed to the ground and Kili rose to his feet, biting back his desire to screech when his damaged foot began to send sharp pains to his knee.

He raised his head to see Dul standing over a defeated Ibun, bringing his foot up and sending his monstrous boot down onto the petty-dwarf's skull. A sickening crack erupted from the movement, like a walnut being crushed.

Dul wiped his hands on his pants and glanced at the astonished Kili.

"You don't look so good." Dul said.

Kili was startled by this statement, so casual in the face of what had just happened, but he imagined Dul had waited long to avenge the horrible acts inflicted on him and his family.

"We need to warn Thorin." Dul said, shouldering the dead deer and walking toward their makeshift camp.

Though he wouldn't have admitted it, Kili was grateful that Dul led the way, as he was so out of sorts that his sense of direction was faltering.

They broke from the cover of trees and witnessed the moving figures of a few dwarves, stirred from sleep and working to care for the others.

Dul brought the deer over his head and threw it on the ground in front of him when they'd closed the distance and instructed someone to skin it and section off pieces of meat for stew and some for drying so they could store it for later.

Three bodies moved quickly to do their leader's bidding and Kili wobbled to sit on the ground.

He was light-headed and barely noticed when Thorin had come to stand at his side. His uncle laid a hand on the young dwarf's head.

"Sleep." Thorin commanded, pointing to a tent they had been able to raise next to the caves. The caves were small and could barely house their occupants comfortably, so Thorin had set to expanding their dwellings in the hopes of finding at least a few of them some privacy.

And this was where Kili crawled to now, unable to lift himself off of the ground. His uncle's arms reached around his sides and pulled Kili upward, partly carrying him to the shelter of the tent. They disappeared inside for a moment before Thorin came out and stood close to Dul, seeing that the dwarf had something pressing on his mind.

"Ibun and two others went after Kili." Dul murmured low enough that Thorin had to incline his ear to the burly dwarf.

"There are more." Thorin grumbled. "They wouldn't follow us all this way if they were only a few, but I imagine there are not enough to overtake us. They would have attacked us already, in the open, instead of hiding and hoping to catch us off guard. They mean to frighten and waylay us for no other purpose than revenge. We can be of no other use to them."

Thorin was pensive for a moment, considering strategy and their resources. "We need to call back our trappers and gatherers."

"Ibun is dead." Dul insisted. "And he indicated that his brother was. The petty-dwarves would not be brave enough to threaten us without their leaders."

"But you forget, friend," Thorin said before stomping away. "Of the leaders, only two are dead. There is one more."

* * *

Nur brushed her fingers through the running stream, savoring its chill and wetness. She knelt by the moving water, intending to fill the water skins she'd brought with her.

The princess had accomplished her task to set snares and had returned to the caves before midday, insisting that water was needed just as much as food. Thorin had hesitantly agreed with her, telling her to return as quickly as she could.

But Nur began to regret not having had an escort, for the trees had begun to stare at her darkly and she was timid under their looming eyes. She scolded herself for being so childish, but something about this forest was making her uneasy.

Shaking her head, she realized she was sitting next to a patch of red berries and began to gather them.

"Poison." A voice called out to her from behind. It startled her, but she steadied her breathing and said, "Who's there?"

"Those berries are poison." The voice uttered from somewhere different, and she could not place where it was coming from now.

"Who is there?" She demanded.

"But then, you're immune to poison, aren't you?" The phantom growled. "At least, you were at the outpost."

Nur weaved her head around, trying to find the source, but realizing that it was not in the same place as before. Someone was moving stealthily around her.

"Words can be poison." The voice continued, and though Nur wanted to run from it, she didn't dare move until she understood which direction it came, so as not to run into it. "And you're not immune to _words_, are you?"

"Show yourself!" She shouted in terror.

No figure appeared, but she felt something smack against her shoulder and she peered at the ground below her, seeing an oddly shaped nut. She looked to the trees and shouted again, "Who are you?"

"Do you not know the voice of your beloved?" it spoke in mock tenderness. Another nut smacked her leg and dropped to the ground beside the other nut.

"Gren?" Nur's eyes widened and her hands shook.

"But I forget myself, you found another."

Nur looked again at the nuts at her feet and curiosity got the better of her, causing her to stoop and pick them up. They were soft.

"Surely, if you did not recognize my voice, then you would recognize his."

A low moan could be heard from a distance, but Nur could not see anyone. "Fili?"

"Surely, you know your newer companion well enough to recognize any part of him." Gren's voice slithered through the trees.

Another nut hit her in the face this time, but she realized that they were not nuts that were pelting her, they were far too soft… she glanced at the objects in her hand and shuddered when she realized they were fingers.

With a shriek, she dropped them, her hands raising away from them as if they were snakes, and clutching her face, she cried out, "No! No, you lie!"

An answering moan called out her name. She stumbled forward, meaning to seek after the moan, but a heavy set of hands shoved her from behind and she tumbled into the stream face first.

Her hands grasped frantically for something, anything, to push against and resurface and it might have registered in her mind that the stream was very shallow if she had not been so overcome with fear.

Finally shoving against the bottom of the small river, she rose above the waterline, only to be pushed under again in an instant by unseen hands. She choked and sputtered, but had enough of her senses to surface above the water again, raising herself out of the stream and crawling on shaky hands to the muddy and grassy land beside it.

Nur hacked and vomited water, her eyes wide and alert, but still she could not see anyone else. With her head spinning wildly and her limbs desperate to take her into a run, she looked around for some indication of which way it was to get back to the caves.

"It's the other way." Taunted Gren's voice, as though reading her thoughts.

He sounding as though he were above her.

She glanced upward, and could see a slight movement of black, but nothing else.

The sun had begun to decline and the light was diminishing over the mountains, casting premature darkness over an already darkened forest. She clung to the light, feeling as though the black of night might consume her with her terrifying adversary.

Again, she was struck by something, but she dared not look down to see what it was, squeezing her eyes shut and panting.

Nur was trying to gain some control over her fearful mind, but her body was rattled with tremors and shivers—she wished she could stop, she wanted her limbs to obey her, but they were weak from marching, weak from lack of sleep, and now weak from her plunge into the stream.

"What do you want?" She moaned, her hand grabbing her forehead in an effort to settle herself.

"I'm fulfilling a promise," Gren spoke from a distance and Nur guessed that he was leaping from branch to branch, "I made to your loved one before he dies."

This time Nur heard the crunch of twigs and heard the moaning voice gurgle and sputter, releasing a loud breath and silencing itself.

"Or rather," Gren amended. "I should say 'died'."

This time Nur was struck by something sharp, and it cut a tear into her shoulder sleeve, pulling at the skin underneath it and slicing a shallow incision.

Her hand flew to the blood that seeped out and her eyes fell to the blade on the ground.

It was Fili's knife.

And the handle was covered with a bloody handprint.

If Nur had doubted before whether Gren really had Fili, she didn't now.

If she had been able to gather her senses, she would have realized the knife had come free from her pocket when Gren had pushed her into the stream, but the blade only served as confirmation to her primal-panicked mind that Fili was either dead or seriously injured.

Gren was enjoying himself, taking pleasure in her terror, and relishing the empowerment he felt in seeing her defeated mind slowly accept his words.

Nur wailed and spun around, determined to run back to the caves, though at this point she was so disoriented that she didn't know which way they were, and felt a branch collide with her forehead.

She'd run right into a tree, overcome by the waning light and her chaotic senses.

"I promised him, Nur," Gren bellowed with a laugh. "that I would make your death longer and more painful than his."

Nur panted, her vision blurring and her hope dwindling.

"I promised." Gren repeated wickedly.


	16. Chapter 16

_Listen while you read: "Pale Septembre" by Camille or type in youtube and add /watch?v=QIsvfFoOc5U_

**Chapter 16**

Kili was restless. He had an unsettling feeling creeping over him and it didn't help that three of their trappers had not returned. Adding to this, Thorin was upset that Nur had missed the curfew he'd imposed on her by over three hours.

It was nightfall and Kili had woken from his short slumber only recently, bouncing on his heels though his leg was still bothering him.

He waited for his brother to show up and brush off his worries as though they were unnecessary. But with no brother to discourage that worry, it grew until he could bear it no more.

"Uncle, I can't wait here like this." Kili whispered. His heart was being tugged in the direction of the forest, and he felt that even without Thorin's permission he would rush toward it.

Thorin patted Kili's shoulder, mustering more calm than Kili felt was warranted. Thorin murmured in low tones to Dul, and Dul shook his head. Whatever it was they spoke to each other, Kili could not hear it, because his eyes were fixed on the trees not far beyond them, illuminated by the campfires outside the mouths of the caves.

His concern was short lived though and his heart spiked in alertness when he took in the image of Fili striding towards them at an even pace.

Kili erupted into a run and clamped his arms around his brother's shoulders, catching the older dwarf off-guard and murmuring thanks to Mahal.

Fili looked startled by his brother's reaction, and he patted the younger dwarf's back and whispered something comforting in his ear. The two then walked side by side back to Thorin, who smiled in relief, but Dul was still eyeing the trees anxiously.

"There are petty-dwarves in the woods." Fili said to his uncle, cleaning the last remnants of blood from his sword. "I counted three, but I know there were more."

"We know." Thorin remarked, crossing his arms. "Kili was attacked by three and Dul found a lone straggler."

Fili eyed his brother with some concern, but Kili shook his head at him, indicating that he wasn't hurt. At least, not badly.

"We are waiting for Nur and Smerri." Dul grumbled. "Who should have been back hours ago."

Kili watched his expression and guessed that Fili's heart had skipped a beat. He knew Fili was toying with the idea that perhaps they'd become lost, but Kili also knew that the grimmer part of his brother's mind offered images he hoped they would not see. "When are we leaving to track them down?"

Thorin held up a hand to halt him. "We cannot leave these people defenseless, someone needs to stay here to protect them."

"It won't be me." Fili growled insolently. "Nur is out there." But he regretted his tone and muttered a small apology, backing away from his uncle and crossing his own arms.

"With all due respect," Dul sighed in exasperation. "It won't be me, either."

"My King." A voice spoke from behind them. Kili and the others turned to face three dwarves standing in a clump behind Thorin. "We are not defenseless. You have done so much to ease our suffering and to free us from siege—please, go and find your companions! If you will leave a few weapons with us—"

Fili unsheathed a twin blade before the dwarf could finish his sentence and offered it to the speaking dwarf, followed by Kili offering his own sword. Kili was starting to keep track of how many times Fili had parted his twin blades for the sake of Nur, where at one time he violently refused to separate the swords for any reason.

And as if this had given him permission, Fili trotted into the treeline, not even waiting for Kili to follow. Kili began to hobble toward him, but Dul held his shoulder and insisted that he would be better off following Dul instead. Thorin nodded and Kili understood that it was his uncle's plan to have a discussion with Fili—perhaps a scolding after the things the older prince had said.

Thorin went after his older nephew and Kili resigned himself to following a fast-moving Dul, with whom Kili could barely keep up.

They wandered through the trees, eyes struggling to make out the scenery, but after a while the moon illuminated them and their visibility improved.

And when it did, they found the body of Smerri not far from the river.

He was bunched up against the wide trunk of a massive tree, almost completely hidden from sight, with a chest wound indicating he had been stabbed repeatedly. Dul's anger flowed, but it peaked when he saw that the deceased Smerri's hands only showed six fingers instead of ten. Whomever had killed him had taken their time.

Kili took in the muscled dwarf's stance to mean that it was time to slide an arrow onto his bowstring. They stepped cautiously toward the river, seeing that the waterskins had been filled, though they were strewn about.

Crossing the stream in a few steps, they continued toward the sound of voices and made every effort to be silent.

Slinking closer and closer to the sounds, Kili could hear the male voice speaking and he looked to Dul questioningly—Dul looked as though he recognized it and snarled quietly, gripping tightly the handle of his sword.

The words continued and the slinking dwarves noted the hunched over form of Nur against a tree. Kili wanted to lunge forward, but Dul halted him, indicating with a raised finger to his lips that they should continue to watch and wait.

Nur seemed to be looking at them, a numb expression painted on her face.

She was sitting, her body propped against a tree and leaning into it, with her head lolling sideways at an awkward angle. With limp hands flung to her sides as though they were dead, her arms bore several red lines.

Kili had begun to go mad with waiting when Dul pointed to a branch just above Nur.

Kili could barely make it out, the figure was so dark and so concealed by branches and leaves, but he aimed as well as he could, intending to end Gren's life—he knew it to be Gren when they had come closer, listening to the imagery of the horrible things Gren intended to do.

He wanted nothing more than to silence her tormentor, but Gren had suddenly left the cover of branches and jumped down to stand before Nur.

"… easier when broken." Gren said in a satisfied manner, and though Kili had not hear the beginning of his words, he understood them to mean that he was done savoring Nur's pain—it looked like she had nothing left.

But Gren's satisfaction did not exceed Kili's- the scoundrel had made himself an impossible-to-miss target when he displayed himself to Nur.

The shaft of the arrow sounded and the thud of something hard hitting the meat of Gren's back could be heard.

Kili wasted no time in releasing two more arrows into the culprit's back and resisted the urge to shoot more to satiate his anger.

Gren's body went limp and he fell forward towards Nur, falling on top of her and sending her into a panic while an inhuman cry tore out of her throat.

Dul and Kili dashed forward to her rescue, but she had already scrambled out from under the body that had toppled on her and scurried as fast as she could away from them.

Kili started to dart after her, but his foot was caught by the outstretched hand of Gren, causing the ground to rise up at him and pound against his face.

Dul moved with purpose and grabbed a nearby rock, smashing it down on Gren's head and bellowing in dwarvish chants, sending Gren to the abyss that was waiting for him.

Kili was unhurt except for the throb of his cheekbone and being winded from having hit the ground hard, and he looked up at Dul in confusion.

"You have a _sword_." Kili muttered, pushing himself up off the ground.

"That's too clean of an end for him." Dul spat, tossing the rock aside and peering into the trees. "Where's Nur?"

"I—" Kili swept his head to the side, squinting into the darkness as though that would help him. "I don't know, she ran off."

Dul growled and headed in the direction Kili was looking, not bothering to quiet his movements anymore. "Nur!" he called into the darkness, glancing in all directions and moving through the trees.

Kili shouted her name as well, knowing that it would call the attention of any remaining foes, but not caring—Where had she gone?

The wee hours of morning came and Kili heard Dul curse for the loss of sight even under the moon. He relented that they would not be able to track her until day broke.

Like it or not, Kili understood that if they ventured further from where they were, they would be wandering away from any of her tracks and he was desperate to stick to anything that would bring her safely back.

They waited through the agonizing hours, continually calling her name, until finally the first hints of light appeared overhead.

Kili sprang up, trusting to hope and finally catching a glimpse of her trail in the soft, brown dirt.

He was all too eager to follow it while Dul lingered slowly behind him, watchful for any other attacks. But none came.

The trees were fewer with the rising of a little hill made up of boulders and rocks. It was here that Kili first spotted their elusive Nur.

She was huddled between two large boulders, her arms wrapped around her bent legs and her face resting in her knees. She looked to be asleep, and Kili approached her slowly, sure to make his movements obvious so as not to scare her off again.

"Nur?"

Her body jolted, but her head moved slowly to turn and face whoever had said her name. Her eyes were glossy, looking past him for a moment and then refocusing on his face. "Kili?"

He knelt to be level with her, reaching out a hand tentatively and touching her elbow. Nur began gasping for breath and her eyes darted in different directions, her words garbled. Kili hushed her softly, bringing his other hand to rest next to the first and soothing her with soft and encouraging words.

Dul was afraid to come any closer, seeing that she was so overcome with panic.

"Can you stand?" Kili asked her gently, but she rambled and showed herself to be irrational, so he tucked an arm under her knees and another arm under her shoulders, scooping her up and carrying her down the rocky path and back into the trees. It was lucky for him she was so lightweight, though in his desperation to return her to safety, it wouldn't have mattered.

She gripped his collar, tucking her face into his shoulder and pleaded, "No—trees—Gren!"

"Gren's dead." Kili replied gently, though he wished with all his might he could have shouted it to the world. "Just hush, you're safe."

It was a long walk back to the caves, but Kili noted that his foot didn't give him as much trouble as he expected. Dul had tried to help, but Nur shied away from Dul and clutched that much harder at Kili.

To say that Dul was saddened by this was an understatement, for he could see that part of her fear was directly linked to him.

Approaching the crowd, Kili bit his lip in thought. He knew the dwarves would be rushing to them once they saw Nur and he feared her reaction.

He looked around for Fili, but could not see his face among the company.

Dul must have had the same thoughts as Kili and strode before them, waving back any incomers and directing Kili and Nur straight to Thorin's tiny pavilion. Thankfully, the tent was unoccupied and Kili ducked under the opening, lowering Nur to a pile of blankets and wrapping her in one of them.

He heard Dul plant himself just outside the tent's opening- the hulking dwarf was an imposing guard and no one dared speak to him, let alone approach him.

Kili sat and waited—haunted by the words he would have to say to Fili once they returned.


	17. Chapter 17

_Listen while you read: "Ships in the Night" by Mick Flannery or type youtube and add /watch?v=bP8IS3QjsG4_

_Also "Interlude for Piano" by Peter Bradley Adams or type youtube and add /watch?v=Duu5ncqibYk_

**Chapter 17**

Fili, Thorin's heir, considered that his lack of sleep and overprotectiveness of Nur was driving him to action without thinking.

Thorin had followed him into the forest and spoken to him in softer tones than Fili believed he deserved, but reminded him that in times of peril it was Fili's responsibility to keep a clear head. His uncle reminded him of the day when the dragon had attacked Dale and burned the Halls of Erebor and asked him what would have happened if their leaders had succumbed to grief and panic.

Although he felt like he was being childishly scolded, Fili put away his pride and answered that their people would never have made it to safety.

Thorin also reminded his nephew that Fili was not an ordinary dwarf and could not do as he pleased whenever he wanted; he was responsible for more than just himself and his loved ones and he needed to learn to keep a cool head in the midst of even personal attacks—physical or verbal—if he were to help his people properly. The older dwarf also prompted him to remember that it was a sacrifice they made as leaders, to set aside private revenge or simple pleasures for the benefit of more than just themselves.

Long hours into the night, they searched and found nothing. Thorin was the first to concede that without light they were wandering aimlessly. Fili's worry drove him to continue and he offered to search alone, attempting to persuade Thorin to return to the caves if he was fatigued, but Thorin would not leave.

At the first light of day, they rose, aching from their seating on the hard ground. They could find no tracks, no traces of anyone having been there at all, but it took Thorin half an hour to convince Fili that with nothing to track, it would be better for them to return to their camp and see if the others had turned up anything.

Fili finally relented, believing his uncle might resort to dragging him along by the ear as his uncle had when he was a younger—and shorter—lad.

The mist of the earliest morning light washed over their path, chilling them and causing their breath to come out of their nostrils like smoke. It was a cold morning for the summer season and foreboding, though neither of them were aware of it.

On their return, Fili eyed the faces of the dwarves surrounding the cave and he was relieved to see a brooding Dul sitting in front of Thorin's tent.

"Did you find anyone?" Thorin called to the sitting dwarf, who suddenly looked up in alarm and rose to meet them.

Dul held his hands up to halt the two. "Listen—listen to me—" his fingers touched Fili, as though fending him back. "We found her, she's safe…"

"Where is Smerri?" Thorin glanced around the dwarf.

"Gren killed him."

Fili's heart hardened and his fists clenched. "Where's Nur?"

"She's inside, but you can't go in yet—"

Fili attempted to brush past Dul, but the strong dwarf caught him by the shoulders and held him back. "You will listen to me or you will not be allowed to go near her."

Shrugging off Dul's hands, Fili planted himself and sighed in irritation.

"She thinks you're dead. We've been trying to tell her it's not true, but she's… she's gone mad."

"What happened?" Thorin said, stepping forward and pulling back a growling Fili from Dul.

"She was at the river. Gren nearly drowned her and then terrorized her."

Fili's stared at the ground, his body trembling with fury. "Did he… touch her?"

Dul shook his head. "I don't think so—when we discovered them, he was hidden in the trees and taunting her. He fell on her when Kili shot him and she fled into the forest. We couldn't find her until daybreak, and when we did…" the smallest of tears rolled out of Dul's large eyes. "… she's not well, lad."

"I've listened." Fili uttered in a flurry of hate and despair. "I want to see her."

"You're going to shock her—"

"I _need_ to _see_ her." Fili pleaded, his voice breaking.

Thorin strode forward, pulling Fili along and ushering him to the entrance of the tent.

Opening the flaps, Fili saw Kili sitting on the ground, holding a sedate Nur. Kili's eyes widened, but Nur refused to turn around and Fili couldn't be sure she'd heard him come in.

"She won't let anyone near her but me." Kili finally whispered. "Something about Dul scares her and she screams at the rest of them."

Fili knelt in front of them, wanting to reach out and touch her, but wary with his movements.

"I don't scream." She whimpered. "I'm trying to speak, but it all comes out muddled and shrieky."

Kili shifted uncomfortably. "Good, you're awake. I want you to turn around."

She shook her head violently.

Kili squeezed her tightly. "I keep telling you, you're safe now. Don't you believe me?"

She gripped Kili even harder and causing him to wince.

"Turn around." Kili commanded in irritation.

"Turn around." Fili softly insisted, hoping that she would finally see him.

Her body jerked and her head moved slowly, just as it had when Kili found her in the rocks. She glanced at Fili, her eyes lighting up and color returned to her face, but then her expression was pensive and hesitant.

With a trembling lip, her eyes filled with tears. "Gren was right." She murmured softly. "I've lost my mind and it's playing tricks on me."

"He was lying." Fili soothed, reaching out a hand to her, but she recoiled and drew back to Kili.

"Help me!" She wailed to the dwarf that held her.

Fili watched Kili roll his eyes at her, but he could see that she clung to his brother painfully and that he was losing patience.

Kili locked eyes with Fili and then shoved Nur out of his lap and into the arms of her startled beloved. Fili would have been angry with him if he hadn't been occupied with the struggling form of a lady dwarf.

Nur cried out, shaking uncontrollably in Fili's arms, when she felt the solidity of his body and accepted that perhaps he wasn't part of her imagination after all. Her breathing was rushed, but she gazed into Fili's eyes and began to calm a little.

"I'm no ghost." Fili breathed. She stopped resisting him, staring for a moment and then grabbing for his hands, pulling them in front of her.

"Ten fingers." She said.

Confusion filled his face, but he confirmed, "Ten fingers."

Shakily, she pulled something out of her pocket.

Fili was horrified to realize she was holding segments of fingers from a dwarf's hand. She analyzed them with a blank face and then tipped her hand gradually and let them roll to the floor.

Bile rose in Fili's throat and he could not hold back his burning questions any longer. "I need to know what happened."

Kili shook his head and held up his hands. "I don't know any—"

"You were _there_." Fili said firmly, gripping Nur steadily as she climbed into his lap and sunk her head in his chest. "You know more than I do—help me solve this riddle."

Grinding his teeth and shaking his head for a moment, Kili relayed Nur's ramblings to Fili as best he could. They determined that she had been submerged and that Gren had been throwing things at her—one of which was Fili's knife that Kili had wrested from her earlier and now handed back to his brother.

The knife was stained with dried blood and the handle bore the imprint of bloodied fingers. Fili turned this over in his hands, disgusted, as though he were handling a snake that might bite him at any moment, casting it aside and listening to Kili's account of Smerri's body.

It struck Fili that Gren had likely killed Smerri and removed a number of fingers to convinced Nur of his "savage murder" of Fili, pitting her to the depths of despair and causing her to fear the thought of her own gruesome death at Gren's hands. They could not, however, resolve the rest of the poisonous words that had been spoken to her and the mystery plagued Fili…

"We had to wait until daylight before we found her tracks and they led us to the rocks just outside the trees. She was cornered between rocks, shivering—she had to have been there for hours…" Kili grimaced at his recollection, not understanding why he was still talking, but perhaps that was his tired mind taking over. "She didn't seem to recognize me at first…"

"Sorry." She whimpered in a sob.

Fili's face contorted in misery. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about." He cradled her, noticing the chill of her body and seeing the piles of blankets near Kili's knees. He reached out and pulled one around Nur, cocooning her.

"Bother you." She whispered.

Fili snorted. "You're not a bother to me. If I could hold you any closer I would, but I don't want to hurt you."

"Hurt me." She begged.

Fili grimaced at the words, watching his brother rise and leave the tent, but gave in to her wishes and let his arms tighten until he could feel her heartbeat against his chest. It was pounding rapidly and he wondered that a heart could beat that fast without bursting.

Nur twitched and shivered under his embrace, breathing in for a moment and then stopping, breathing again after a long while and then stopping again, with her eyes clamped shut.

When she opened them again, she pulled at one of his hands, counting the fingers again. "Ten…?"

"Yes," Fili shuddered, grief heavy in his voice. "Ten fingers."

* * *

Fili could not remember how many days it had been since they'd originally left the Iron Hills, but he knew their return was sooner than expected. It was ironic, he mused, that some might consider their time away short, while he felt it to be so long. And he felt aged… his shoulders were heavy with the weight of his heart.

Nur was quiet as they entered the massive doors to her father's halls. Looking around at the dimmed lighting inside, she was happy to once again be surrounded by the comfortable familiarity of the mountain.

It relieved her such that she felt nothing dangerous would be lurking in the enclosed walls.

But she was wrong.

A number of her father's advisers, trailed by Gren's associates were making a beeline for the entering company and she shuddered, grasping Fili's arm and stepping behind him.

He stopped moving forward and put a hand over hers, glancing at the bodies coming toward them, realizing this was his last moment to speak to her before his duties and her own took them away from each other.

Fili pulled his cloak from his back and whirled it around her shoulders, clasping it and pulling the edges around her arms. Gripping her shoulders, he peered into her face with determination.

Nur's eyes scattered for a moment, not knowing where to look, but finally settled on his and she took a deep breath.

"Listen to me very carefully." He tried to say it without allowing his voice to break, trying to instill her with the confidence of what he was about to say. "I don't know what's going to happen in the next few hours, but I have to be away from you for a while. You're safe here, your attendants and your friends are here to protect you, even from your father, if you wish it."

She glanced away from him, eyes darting to the oncoming party and whimpering a little.

"Don't look at them, look at me." He said in a gentle voice. "I am going to find you when all of this is over."

"You're going to come find me." She repeated, closing her eyes and breathing out.

"Don't let them pressure you into talking. You want to go to your room and rest and you don't feel like speaking to anyone. Tell them that."

It sounded demanding, but he had learned in the last few days that her mind was at war with itself and that it was difficult to sort out her thoughts. Giving her directions was the best way to help her at that moment.

The attendants were almost to them.

"I'm sorry that I have to leave." He kissed her forehead. "But I'm going to take care of things. Do you trust me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I do." She smiled with one of the corners of her mouth. She pulled at the cloak on her shoulders and inhaled the sweet scent of her beloved.

He smiled back at her. "I love you."

* * *

Fili had been right to anticipate madness, but he was at least satisfied to see Nur's attendants rushing her away in the direction of her quarters without a fuss. He could handle the onslaught of the interrogation and even accusations being pointed at either his uncle or himself so long as Nur was left out of it.

He did not mind answering questions about her, but revealed little in his answers. It wasn't until the chaos had died down about an hour later and he was sitting in a council room with Thorin, Kili, King Dain, Karta, three advisors, and a few of Gren's assistants that they even began to address what had happened. Dul was in the physician's halls after having collapsed on the threshold of the great hall.

Gren's companions were at a loss for words and demanded some sort of verification as though Thorin might have fabricated the enmity described to them of Gren and his actions—and they were much inclined to believe that Fili was somehow faulted, relaying that they had seen his slight display of affection for her before their parting in the opening halls.

Dain was not so much taken aback by the explanation of Gren, but he glanced warily at Fili, examining the lad with scrutinizing eyes.

Their meeting with Thorin and his heirs was straightforward and they were assured that the traders would be given rights and employment as soon as they had recovered enough to be of some service.

But this was only a short summary of the hours spent sitting in chairs, the explanations and the arguments, and even the grotesque description of the traumatic incident regarding Nur. Of this, Dain could only take his head into his hand, feeling the pain only a father could feel in the knowledge that his daughter had been violated in such a way.

The Iron Hills King held in his hand an envelope with a red seal, offering it to Thorin and mentioning that it had been delivered only a day after Thorin had left for their purpose of mapping the mountainside. Thorin's examination of the letter was somewhat intense and he would not immediately share its contents with his nephews, but excused himself and left, causing King Dain to believe the meeting had reached its end.

Fili found his uncle, some time later, pouring over the letter and speaking to a familiar face.

"He appeals to me again, Balin." Thorin grumbled. "And I cannot fathom why I should be inclined to take the risk and effort when he has assured me of little."

"He's a wizard." Balin crossed his arms. "He needs assure you of nothing."

They stood in Thorin's guest chambers. He had summoned his nephews and they stood, watching the older dwarf and their uncle discussing the letter. Fili had yet to read the letter, but his uncle seemed hesitant to part with it. As if sensing his nephew's confusion, Thorin finally turned to him.

"We have had contact from an ally who says he has found a way into the mountain."

"Is this not good news?" Kili asked, his face brightening. And then he muttered under his breath, "Our own efforts have turned up nothing."

Thorin raised an eyebrow at Kili's comment. "It is, and I trust our lengthy correspondence with him, but my concern is with the circumstances. This has not been the first of our endeavors to fail, and those who would at one time jump at the chance to help us have long since become weary of offering their hand. I must call once again on anyone loyal to us to prepare for one of the longer journeys we have planned for."

Fili was startled by the suddenness of Thorin's plans. "You speak as though you trust your ally's information enough to act on it immediately."

"I do." Thorin said simply.

Fili shook his head, hands on his hips, looking down at the ornate, red carpet. "Our last efforts were undone by an enemy with a similar purpose as ours—"

"The source of this information is Gandalf the Grey." Thorin said. "I have not called upon you to question plans or sources, but to assist me as you've sworn to do."

"This is just so sudden after our abrupt return…"

A sympathetic look strayed from the face of Thorin and he found himself wishing he could give his nephew more time to recover, but knowing that time was of the essence.

"I'm sorry, but we must act quickly. You've seen that other dwarves have already begun to clamor about Erebor. They think they can race us to the mountain and have at it themselves. I only want to protect the kingdom I mean to leave to you when I am gone. Your rule is one of the tasks I am working hard to accomplish, even if it costs me everything…"


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Fili's fingers brushed along the cold stone railing of the balcony he was sitting against. He could hear the birds in the trees below, which were beginning to turn into a patchwork of warm reds and yellows. He could even smell the crisp, familiar scent of apples from the kitchens below, wafting up through the halls. But he paid attention to none of these things, his mind occupied with the sorting of his thoughts.

His ears picked up the tapping of footsteps nearby and he didn't need to look up to see who it was. He knew that no matter how secluded a spot he tried to find in the mountain, his brother would find him.

And his brother had the good sense to sit a few steps away from him on the railing, unspeaking.

The brothers could come alive in a way that made others marvel; talking up a storm, inciting a gathering into a raucous party, or lifting the hearts of even the cantankerous old dwarves who refused to smile. But they also knew each other well enough to sense when the other needed a brother's silent care. Fili just needed him to _be_ there.

The comfort of his brother's presence was enormous, especially when he had so much to think about. It centered him, reminded him that no matter what happened, at least Kili was there and safe.

Fili knew Kili wanted to talk to him, but he was savoring the quiet of the balcony and the chilly breeze brushing his mustache braids against his cheeks.

Kili muttered something and Fili smirked a little. As much as Kili respected his need for quiet moments, Fili understood that it required a lot of effort for the younger dwarf to be silent.

"How can you sit and think with the wind blowing on you?" Kili muttered incredulously. He pulled his arms around himself, frowning.

"Sometimes it helps blow away my troubles," the older dwarf morosely replied. He snickered when Kili brought an apple from his pocket and began taking noisy, crunchy bites of it. "It's the quiet you can't stand, not the breeze, anyway."

Kili nodded with a smile, looking out at the setting sun and the reddening trees. "True. So will you let me help you think?"

Fili snorted but he was amused.

"I can see you, over there, mulling over something like an old granny trying to unravel the knotted yarn that's stopping her from finishing her scarf." Kili's playful smile grew into a wide grin as he reached into his jacket for something. "Speaking of which, Nur wanted me to bring you these."

Fili's curiosity grew while Kili fumbled with an inner pocket and finally revealed a pair of fingerless gloves. He beamed when he accepted them, pulling one on and finding it to be perfectly fitting though he'd never knowingly modeled his hands for Nur.

"She misses you. She wants to know why you're staying away."

Fili froze, his admiration of the gloves giving way to tremendous guilt. "It's complicated. And I _do_ see her…often enough."

Kili said nothing, but his face showed that this answer was inadequate.

Rolling his eyes, the blonde dwarf stood and relented. "Thorin wants us to winter in the Blue Mountains, rallying support still close enough to the Shire that we can set out together as a company."

Kili knit his brows together. "What has that got to do—"

"It means we're leaving in two weeks." Fili stuttered. "I am anxious to start this journey, but also…"

"Nur." Kili offered in a single understand word.

"She said she understands why I have to leave. She said she even understands why she cannot go with me." Fili said the last part nervously, not wanting to delve into that delicate part of their relationship. Her inability to go had nothing to do with her willingness. "But I haven't told her how soon I'll be leaving."

"There's more to it than that, isn't there?" Kili raised an eyebrow with a knowing expression on his face. He munched a bite while waiting for Fili to continue.

"King Dain…" Fili began to say, but stopped, trying to choose his words carefully. "He isn't happy with me. Thinks I could have done more to keep Nur safe. He also thinks that I amount to nothing until we've taken back our kingdom. He doesn't want me anywhere near her."

"Not that you've listened."

"No," Fili half-smiled. "But…" He crouched and sat back on the floor cross-legged with his hand over his forehead. "Why can't things just be simple, brother?"

Kili moved to sit next to the brooding dwarf.

"Why can't I just be a lad that loves a lass," Fili groaned, "without fear of the political ramifications or the danger of King Dain holding back his hand of support? If things turn out all right, we can reach Erebor with a ready army waiting not far away…"

"Wait until they've helped us and then swoop in and marry her anyway." Kili scoffed. "You can be certain I won't give thought to anyone else when I decide to marry."

"Yes, but you can afford not to."

"So can you." Kili voiced adamantly. "The King of the Iron Hills is the _only_ one unhappy with Nur's choice—but it's _her_ Choice, for Mahal's sake!"

Fili shook his head, determined that he would do nothing to upset the odds in their favor when it came to the quest they'd all been waiting so long for—Erebor! It was not just a weak whisper anymore, it was a purposeful shout!

"You could marry in secret." Kili muttered. Fili laughed at this, trying to imagine the expression on his mother's face if she'd heard her sons whispering such a thing… but a glance at his brother told him Kili was serious.

"Are you daft?" Fili shoved his hand at Kili to push him. "How would I—"

But Kili caught his hand and Fili could see the wheels turning in his head. It wasn't just a suggestion anymore, the lad had a determined look in his eyes. "You take back Erebor and she'll go through the motions of a ceremony anyway, no harm done."

This was not just mischief anymore, Fili thought, Kili was taking this too far. "What foolish priest would—"

"Hammer Ceremony." Kili interrupted. "I'll be your witness."

Fili shook his head and rose to his feet slowly. "You've already thought of everything, haven't you, you foolish, foolish…" Fili closed his eyes in doubt. "Foolish, reckless, loyal, caring…"

Fili could not deny it, the idea had been planted and now it was blooming into a balm for the worries he'd had before.

"I shouldn't be thinking this," Fili said while his brother rose to stand in front of him. Kili gave him a coaxing look, crossing his arms and waiting. "I can't… I don't want to risk it. And I'm sure Nur wouldn't—"

Kili stepped away from his brother and walked speedily out of the room. Fili watched him, puzzled, but then ground his teeth together when he began to realize where Kili was going. "No! Stop!"

The brothers chased each other through the halls of the Iron Hills, much like they had when they were younger dwarves, and the people there watched them in amusement. It was not often they saw adults bounding through the halls, falling over themselves.

But Kili was swift and he met his goal at a sprint, catching the doorknob to Nur's chambers and launching the door open with a wide swing.

Fili was far behind, but he could hear Kili as he jumped into the chamber, catching the lady and her maids off-guard—though Nur looked more pleased than startled—and Kili announced with a wide bow that he wanted a private audience with the princess.

Nur politely asked her maids to leave and they rose from their seats to pass by Kili, some with sneers and some with flirtatious smiles. Kili paid them no attention, but stood still, his arms clasped in front of him and the glow of his mischievous grin making Nur more and more curious by the second.

"Lady Nur," Kili began, "Honored Princess and good friend—"

Nur rose, an entertained smile on her face, just as Fili appeared. The winded dwarf held the door frame in one hand, his other on his knee while he gasped. "Stop. Right. There."

"May I have permission to be a witness at your surreptitious Hammer Ceremony with my brother?"

Nur burst with laughter. She knew this was the only explanation she was going to get from Kili—it reminded her of a game they'd played on their nannies when they were children, saying something ridiculous and winking at the others to go right along with it—and she thought for a short moment before nodding.

"Yes."

Fili had recovered himself enough to stand behind his brother with clenched fists and a scowl. "I am going to strangle you."

"Before you resort to violence," Kili held his arm up, twisting his torso to face his brother with a pretend stoic expression. "We will need the lady to petition for your hand which I will accept on as your custodian before we proceed to the flower arrangements and formal attire."

"On _my_ behalf—?"

"The _lass_ has the power," Kili said so quickly that Fili almost misunderstood him and then he held a finger to his lips, "Now, shush."

They were both startled by the crinkle of a paper being shoved into Kili's face. Nur stood with her hand outstretched, the short document bore a coat of wax with her symbol.

Kili's eyes widened in confusion while he slowly accepted and looked over it in disbelief. "That was fast." He had expected her to scribble nonsense on a parchment paper in playing with his game, but this… this was real.

"King Dain does not believe in the lady having power," she said with a blush breaking out on her cheeks, "but I had this drawn up almost as soon as we returned, though I didn't want to submit it until you were ready…"

Fili was overwhelmed as he scanned the ink-filled pages.

"Mahal's hammer…" Kili grinned. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," She said, matter-of-factly. "And I know you like a little intrigue so I hope to take you up on your offer of being a witness."

Fili pushed past his brother and stood before Nur, taking her hands in his. "What do you think you're doing?"

Nur wavered for a moment, her guard of confidence failing under his gaze. "Please don't stop me. I've already thought this through, long before now. This is what I want."

"There's no rush," Fili murmured.

A slight wave of discouragement passed through the princess's core, and she ducked her head a little. "You… you don't want me?"

"That's rubbish and you know it." Fili said a little too harshly. He granted her a smile and caressed her hand in a small apology. "There are alliances to think on—"

Nur sighed, uncertain how to speak her thoughts. "Father doesn't want me to marry you."

Fili wasn't wholly shocked by this, but it still made his heart feel like it was crumbling. He and Kili might have kept to their beliefs about the lady's Choice in a marriage, but it was motivated by Erebor's passed-down laws and by the Blue Mountains where they had been raised. The brutal truth was that the Iron Hills did not respect the same rules.

"And if you leave…" she hung her head. "What's to stop him from pairing me with someone else while you're gone?"

A chill ran through the dwarf's body, resting in his fingertips and causing him to realize that what Kili had started as a joke was not so humorous anymore. Kili shifted uncomfortably beside him, a guilty expression tearing down his smile. Fili mused on the irony that had caused him to change his mind from the absolute determination against this idea into grave acceptance in only minutes.

Nur clasped at Fili's elbow, subdued tears in her eyes. "But your uncle… I understand why you do not wish to anger my father when he holds the key to your uncle's success. I will abide by any decision you—"

"Stop," Fili said, pulling her close and sighing into her hair.

Kili turned and made to move for the door, but Fili reached out and clasped the younger dwarf's sleeve before he got far.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Kili smirked. "I think you need a minute alone—"

"Will you meet us in the eastern mining outlet?"

"The… the what?" Kili squinted at his brother. "Why am I going there?"

"Hammer. Can you fetch us a hammer? No one will see or hear us down there."

* * *

When three laughing dwarves entered the mead halls of the mining levels of the Iron Hills, it caught no one off-guard. The hollowed cave was already bustling with dwarves drinking their fill after a long day in the mines and needed no reason for a celebratory round of ale. Many of the miners recognized the two princes—all of them recognized the princess with them—but few cared why the royal figures had joined them, as they were joyous and raucous enough to be their own party.

And if any of those miners had known what the three were doing in the mining level—what they had done only moments ago with the signing of a document, a stamp of wax, and the clanging of a hammer—they would not have cared enough to part company with the happy group.

Shouts and toasts filled the hall, but the highlight of the festivity was when Fili stood atop one of the long tables, pulling up a startled Nur after him and pulling her into a deep kiss.

The crowd roared their approval. It was no secret that the two had been pining over each other through the years and had become almost a fairy-tale romance among the common dwarves. They didn't care if the kiss was appropriate and they couldn't have been expected to understand the political taboo of it, the only sentiment murmured among them was, "It's about time."

Nur could hear none of the crowd, she was wholly invested in the strong set of lips clasped against hers and the lovely warm sensation of his fingers at the base of her skull while his other hand rested on the small of her back and pressed her closer than he'd ever dared. She realized the source of her true joy was that he had given up his cautiously laid boundaries and was now thrown to careless abandon with her. It sent a thrill up her spine.

The Princess pulled her head back with an expression that was not asking permission so much as it was wryly implying that she was done with the party. When she saw that he didn't quite understand, she leaned forward and gave him a slight lick on his top lip and abruptly turned away to jump down from the table.

Fili felt the blood rushing to his cheeks and glanced down at his brother, who had his arm around a dwarvish lass with soot on her face, laughing through a mouthful of bread.

"Mahal, Fee, leave already! I'm fine here." Kili said while he tugged the bend of his arm around the lass's neck, slurping at an almost empty stein.

A wave of nerves and excitement came over the blonde dwarf and he landed shakily on his feet, accepting the outreached hand of his bride and letting her pull him along the caverns of the mines. They ran, hand in hand, when Fili realized where it was she intended to go—she had been pulling him along the same route they'd just come from, one of the only places in the Iron Hills they both knew was secluded and private: the place where they held their small ceremony.

He was worried that she wouldn't be comfortable in such a place, but the way she grasped his hand and the intent in her eyes said she wasn't bothered by it in the least.


	19. Chapter 19

_Listen while you read: "Let him go" by Birdy or type youtube and add /watch?v=QfIdq12Tj4k_

**Chapter 19**

Fili lay beside his slumbering wife in her chambers, moving his fingers along her shoulder and wondering how he'd never noticed just how soft her skin was before. With every new discovery of her, he was more and more enthralled.

She slept soundly, her short hair tucked behind her ear, and her shallow breathing making almost no sound while she lay on her stomach. Nur's hand was resting in his while he lay sideways, taking in the sight of her, knowing how precious that memory would be when he left in a few days. His fingers unconsciously moved to brush past one of the red lines on her bicep, a tribute to Gren's torture, when she startled awake with a shriek.

Fili had barely begun to react when she wailed and grabbed her face, clutching it harshly as though trying to hide it from sight. He called her name, causing her eyes to fly open. She squinted at him and panted.

"I'm sorry," he soothed, trying to hold her close, but meeting resistance from her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you…"

She shook her head for a moment, clasping for his hand and staring at it. "Ten," she whimpered breathlessly.

Fili nodded. "Ten fingers."

He'd begun to recite that to her every time she wore that look of confusion and it had become a mantra of reassurance to her.

She relented and scooted herself closer to his body, pulling her knees into her and compressing herself so that he could enfold her like a protective shield. He pulled the covers around their mass, tucking her into a cocoon of body and blanket, and kissing whatever skin he could reach. She whimpered a little into his side and he caressed her face.

"Hush, you're safe. Just sleep." He hummed with his chin resting against her ear.

The morning came for Fili to depart and the air seemed thick while the excited chatter of his companions moved about them. The overcast sky threatened rain and the mountain appeared a dreary, sickly grey—mimicking the mood of a certain Princess.

Nur stood with her arms crossed before her chest, standing straight and tall, after having said to Fili with a little smile that she expected that they would see each other within the year.

It was an optimistic outlook, one that Fili was happy to hear, but he did not entirely believe her act. Still, he made play that he believed it, if only to applaud her efforts to put on such a front. And while she stood steady, she reveled in the last moments with her secretly-wed husband, his forehead against hers with his hands resting on her shoulders.

While Fili carefully guarded the secret of his union with Nur, he did not hesitate to show her affection in front of his companions—he knew they were all aware of the two being together and did not bother with masking it, as all but Kili were completely unaware of the marriage two weeks earlier.

It had been an undiscussed rule for the travelers that none would interrupt the solemn moment between Fili and Nur, though they must at some point depart. And that time was now.

Nur's breathing increased and her chest heaved with small strains of panic, her disguise of strength wavering, and Fili kissed her to steady her, whispering that they _would_ see each other again.

She nodded, but would not meet his eyes, inwardly screaming at her body to stop trembling. Ripping himself away, he strode towards his pony, intending to mount.

But he never made it.

He felt a tug on his heart and pulling his hands away from his saddle, he strode right back to his wife and embraced her in a strong hug. The action caught her so off-guard that her eyes erupted into streams of tears.

"Tell me you'll be well." He pleaded.

"I'll be well." She repeated.

"Tell me you'll get better."

"I won't wither while you're gone, I'll be strong. I promise."

He pulled her fiercely for one last kiss, relishing in the taste of her mouth, marking his memory of her and the fleshy edges of her lips.

She grasped a handful of his wavy, blonde hair, prolonging their kiss, but then he strode away again and this time mounted.

Nur did not bother to wave, did not even want to stand there and watch him ride away, though she could not bring herself to move her feet.

"Kili!" She called out suddenly.

Fili turned, thinking she might have said his name, but glanced at his brother when Kili turned his horse in her direction, his brother saying, "I'll watch after him," trying to anticipate her thoughts.

But Nur shook her head and forced a laugh. "I was going to tell _him_ to keep watch after _you_!"

"My mum beat you to it." Kili rolled his eyes. "And I'll still watch after him, even if you don't have any confidence in me."

She walked toward his horse and stood on her tip-toes while he leaned over his saddle to let her reach up and kiss his cheek. "I have all the confidence of Middle-earth in you."

Kili's rebuttal to this ushered a small laugh from his brother, but Nur didn't hear it as they trotted away down the main road. She clutched her hands together on her chest and watched them as they galloped and disappeared.

Sighing and turning back toward the gates, Nur chanted in her head that she had promised Fili she would get well, that she would be strong. She'd made a promise to her beloved and she was going to keep it—even if it meant adopting the motto of facing her terrors and standing firm.

It would not be until they met again that Fili would understand how strong of a grip she had on fulfilling those sentiments she'd left him with, how far she was willing to go. And it would astound him when he understood her determination and the literal meaning of those words…


End file.
